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Barrel drum

Vernacular name:Shimé-daiko
Vernacular name:Taiko
Date: 1840-1850 ca.
Place Made:Japan, Asia
Serial No: none
Signednone
DescriptionDouble-headed, shallow barrel drum with animal-skin heads lashed to iron rims. Rims larger in diameter than the shell, a typical feature of drums of this type. Barrel shell lacquered black with floral decoration. Vegetal rope secures heads to barrel shell. Only one head, thicker than the other, is used for playing. Shimedaiko, literally, "laced drum," is the preferred drum for traditional No Theater, where it is often referred to as nodaiko. Suspended horizontally on a low stand, it is played with two sticks, which have slightly beveled ends.
DimensionsDiameter: 14 1/2 in
Depth: 5 7/8 in
ProvenancePurchased from Arise Imports (Paul MacLardy), Washington, DC, 1987.
Credit Line: Arne B. and Jeanne F. Larson Fund, 1987
Not on view
Published ReferencesWilliam Malm, Nagauta: the Heart of Kabuki Music (Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1963. See Part Two, Music & Instruments; Section Six, Drums of the Hayashi Ensemble, taiko, pp. 74-77.

Sir Frances Piggott, The Music and Musical Instruments of Japan (NY: Da Capo Press reprint in 1971 of a 1909 edition), pp. 168-169.

William Malm, Japanese Music and Musical Instruments (Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1959. p. 124-125.
Object number: 04112