Wooden drum used on the Sea Islands, South Carolina

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A wooden drum covered with stretched leather hide that has been attached to drum body with nine wooden pegs. Two carved, anthropomorphized face motifs are on opposite sides of the upper half of the drum body. The edges of face motifs have been sealed with a darker adhesive material. There are three bands running the circumference of the drum. The top band closest to the drum head, is stained darker than the rest of the drum body. There is a carved piece that extends from the darker band. It has a round drill hole that had been threaded through with a leather thong. This piece has been stained the same color as the bank. The middle band is directly below the top band and above the face motifs. It is the same color as the rest of the body. The bottom band is a carved triangular pattern between two parallel lines.

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