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Museum object · Musical Instruments

Drum hand-painted depicting caricatures of nine male faces

ca. 1925

Smithsonian NMAAHC collection

COLLECTION RECORDImage not availableExplore the catalog description and source record.
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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 hand painted drum depicting caricatures of nine male faces on the drumhead. The sides of drum are painted with red and white triangles. The rim of drum has eight metal tension rods. The center of drum head has a large face with large yellow eyes and a wide smiling mouth. The large face is depicted wearing a red bowtie with black polka dots. Surrounding the large face at the drumhead's center are eight musical notes decorated with eight (8) small faces that form the note heads. There are seven (7) eighth notes and one (1) sixteenth note. The bottom of drumhead is hollow. At the top edge of the drum is a metal handle for hanging/carrying.

Sources & collection details

Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture — original record ↗

Source collection ↗

Catalog metadata · CC0 · Source checked 2026-10-13

Catalog reference: 2007.7.444

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