Lyre

Description

This instrument once belonged to the Victorian artist Frederick Goodall. According to a letter from Merton Russell-Cotes dated from 10/03/1910, this item was purchased by him from a sale of items belonging to the artist Frederick Goodall at the Royal Academy. It is a five-string zoomorphic lyre with a crocodile head as a resonator body. The frame is built with two arms and a crossbar made of cane (possibly bamboo) secured with sewn bands/ferrules of animal skin at the corners. The strings are made of vegetable fibers and are tied to the crossbar, along with canvas cloth lacing, forming rings that can slide along the crossbar to change tuning.