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Barrel drum

Vernacular Name
  • Shimé-daiko
  • Taiko
Date1840-1850 ca.
Place MadeJapan, 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 Nō 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.
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.
Credit LineArne B. and Jeanne F. Larson Fund, 1987
Object number04112
On View
Not on view
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