Tungna
Alternate name(s)
- Short-neck lute
- Sgra-snyan
Date1875-1925 ca.
Place MadeNepal, Asia
Serial No.none
SignednoneMarkingsnone
DescriptionBody carved from single piece of wood. Waisted resonating chamber with goatskin belly. Carved wooden makara finial. Gut strings. Played with small, attached plectrum. One of smallest examples of lutes used by Newari people living in northeastern Nepal.
The tungna is among the smallest examples of a group of lutes, primarily long neck (27 to 40 inches), referred to as sgra-snyan, found in Tibet and the entire Himalayan Region (Ladakh, northern Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhutan)
DimensionsLength: 438 mm
Width: 87mm
ProvenancePurchased in 1980 from H. M. Lissauer, Melbourne, Australia.
Published ReferencesCross, Thomas E., Instruments of Burma, India, Nepal, Thailand, and Tibet, SMM Catalog, vol. II (1982) p. 18
Cross, Thomas E., Instruments of Burma, India, Nepal, Thailand and Tibet, M.M. Thesis, University of South Dakota, May 1983, p. 78, plate XXVIII.
Credit LineBoard of Trustees, 1980
Object number02682
On View
Not on view
1900-1925 ca.
1880-1900 ca.