Not currently on display at the V&A

Musical Instrument


Double-headed long tapering wooden body, the bends of skin, one bearing a disc of lac; the reels laquered green and red. Said to have been invented by Brahma.


Object details

Object type
Parts
This object consists of 9 parts.

  • Drum
  • Reel
  • Reel
  • Reel
  • Reel
  • Reel
  • Reel
  • Reel
  • Reel
Brief description
Drum, "Mridanga"
Physical description
Double-headed long tapering wooden body, the bends of skin, one bearing a disc of lac; the reels laquered green and red. Said to have been invented by Brahma.
Dimensions
  • Length: 23in
  • Diameter: 11in
Credit line
Presented by Rajah Sir Sourindro Mohun Tagore, Kt., Mus. Doc
Object history
Raja Sir Sourindro Mohun Tagore was a prominent figure in the Bengali Renaissance of the late nineteenth century. A Bengali musicologist, he founded the Bengal Music School (1871) and Bengal Academy of Music (1881). He studied Indian and Western music, which he tried to compare and amalgamate together. He published extensively on music theory. In the early 1880s, he set Indian translations of 'God Save the Queen' to popular Indian melodies as national anthems for the Indian Empire. He was knighted by Queen Victoria and held honorary doctorates of music from Oxford University and Philadelphia University. He worked extensively to advance knowledge of Indian music, including donating several collections of Indian musical instruments to institutions across Europe and North America. For instance, he donated a collection of instruments to the Royal College of Music in 1884, a collection to The Met in New York and one to King Leopold II of Belgium in 1876 which became the nucleus of the Musée Instrumental du Conservatoire Royale de Musique. He didn't ignore his home country and donated a collection to the Indian Museum in Kolkata.

Presented by Rajah Sir Sourindro Mohun Tagore, Kt., Mus. Doc. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Museum records (Asia Department registers and/or Central Inventory) as part of a 2023 provenance research project.
Collection
Accession number
IS.67:1-1890

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Record createdJune 25, 2009
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest