The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of October 9, 2026

A wood musical instrument tapers from a long, slender neck down to a small, teardrop-shaped body. Iridescent circular and triangular mother-of-pearl inlays run along the neck and around the body's rim. Near a pointed white tip, two tuning pegs project left and two right. Thin wires stretch over horizontal wraps along the dark wood. Star-like patterns are carved into the face, flanked by rows of luminous shell circles.

Tanbūr

late 1800s

Syria or Turkey, Ottoman period

(1299–1922)
Wood, bone, mother-of-pearl, and wire
Overall: 58.4 x 10.5 cm (23 x 4 1/8 in.)
The Charles G. King Jr. collection; Gift of Ralph King in memory of Charles G. King Jr. 1918.347
Location: 116 Islamic

Did You Know?

The two pairs of wire strings would be played with a quill plectrum.

Description

This long-necked lute collected in Ottoman Syria possesses traits that are Syrian, Turkish, and Iranian and provides an example of the musical interaction between cultures. It is an ancient instrument and resembles lutes used in Pharaonic Egypt and Mesopotamia. In its many forms, the tanbūr was a common instrument throughout the Islamic world. It is often used as a solo instrument in both sacred and secular contexts. Burn marks decorate the pear-shaped body along with inlaid dots of mother-of-pearl, which may also have helped with navigation of the fret board by the player.
  • ?-1918
    Ralph King [1855-1926], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1918-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • "Accessions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 5, no. 8/9 (1918): 82-85. Mentioned: p. 82 www.jstor.org
    D. S. M. "Exhibition of Musical Instruments." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 8, no. 9 (1921): 134-43. Mentioned: pp. 134-137 www.jstor.org
  • Art of the Islamic World (Islamic art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (May 21, 2021-May 31, 2022).
  • {{cite web|title=Tanbūr|url=false|author=|year=late 1800s|access-date=09 October 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1918.347