Mayuri veena
Alternate name(s)
- Long-neck lute, bowed
- Taus
Date1850-1875 ca.
Place MadeIndia, Asia
Serial No.none
SignednoneDescriptionThe mayuri veena (or taus) is a peacock-shaped, bowed instrument that was popular in the Indian courts of the 19th century. It is closely related to the dilruba and esraj, which have a similar construction but lack the ornate decoration. In Sihk traditions, it is said the taus was invented by a guru in the 17th century. It is common for such instruments to have real tail feathers, adding to the already fantastic illusion.
The mayuri, or peacock, is a symbol of India; it is associated with Saraswati, the goddess of music; and, is also a symbol of courtship. Sixteen frets, four melody strings, and fifteen sympathetic strings.
DimensionsOverall length: 1110 mm
Overall height (not included peacock head or bridge): 225 mm
Height of bridge: 20 mm
Sounding length of melody strings: 820 mm
ProvenanceBefore 1981, previously owned by Clifford A. Allanson, Delmar, New York. In 1981, sold at auction by John Blaine Warner, II, Cohoes, New York, Lot No. 509, to the National Music Museum.
Published ReferencesThomas E. Cross, Instruments of Burma, India, Nepal, Thailand and Tibet, The Shrine to Music Museum Catalog of the Collections, Vol. II, André P. Larson, editor (Vermillion: The Shrine to Music Museum, 1982), p. 12.
Thomas E. Cross, Instruments of Burma, India, Nepal, Thailand and Tibet, M.M. Thesis, University of South Dakota, May 1983, p. 26, plate IX.
"Behind the Scenes . . . The Art of the Conservator," Shrine to Music Museum, Inc. Newsletter 9, No. 4 (July 1982), pp. 1, 3-4.
André P. Larson, The National Music Museum: A Pictorial Souvenir (Vermillion: National Music Museum, 1988), pp. 9 and 29.
Ido Abravaya, Music at First Sight II: Musical Instruments (Ramat-Aviv, Israel: The Open University of Israel, 2006), front cover.
Ted Muenster, “South Dakota’s shrine to musica,” Prairie Fire, Vol. 3, Number 4 (April 2009), pages 12-15. (mislabeled as a vertical slit drum)
Credit LinePurchase funds gift of Lydia and Edwin Downie, 1981
Object number02903
On View
Not on view1900-1930 ca.
1850-1899 ca.
1880-1899 ca.