Barbat Lute

Public Domain

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CultureTurkish

Titles

Barbat Lute

Datelate 19th–early 20th century

MediumWood; inlaid with ebony, mother of pearl, and ivory or bone

Dimensions36 3/4 × 14 3/4 × 8 in. (93.3 × 37.5 × 20.3 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by Franci Neely in honor of her son, Andrew Ellingson Beck III

Object number2010.223

Current Location

The Caroline Wiess Law Building

113 Islamic Art Gallery

On view

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Department

Art of the Islamic Worlds

Object Type

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

DescriptionThe barbat is a stringed instrument from the lute, or ‘ud (from the Arabic al-‘ud), family. It is recognizable by its longer neck, almost double the length of a classical ‘ud. The ‘ud is one of the most characteristic Middle Eastern musical instruments. Although ‘ud-like instruments were played in the ancient world, they were introduced to Europe through the court of the Umayyad caliphs in Spain during the 9th and 10th centuries. This Turkish version is different from the Arabic version in its shape and withregard to the way it is played. This transformation has been attributed to Manolis Venios, a master Greek luthier who lived in Constantinople (Istanbul).
Provenance Research Ongoing

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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