| Collection: | Corinth | |
| Type: | Object | |
| Name: | MF 10169 | |
| Title: | BYZANTINE WOODEN LYRA | |
| WOODEN MUSICAL INSTRUMENT- LUTE | ||
| Category Code: | MF | |
| Object Number: | 10169 | |
| Description: | Wooden musical instrument. The bowl has the shape of a lute or a modern Cretan lyra. The string arm appears to have been broken in antiquity near the bowl and to have been mended. The piece of wood which projects from the bowl at the opposite end from the string-arm is a separate piece of wood, held in place by a wooden peg; it is pierced by one hole (outside the lip of the bowl) to hold the ends of the strings. The bowl and string-arm were apparently originally a single piece of wood. Cf. Deposit Index. Forum SW. Well 61-8. The instrument, in fragments as found, was kept in alcohol from the date of its recovery (21 April 1961) from the well until 20 December 1961. Then Marie Farnsworth and Henry Robinson jointly undertook to preserve the instrument with CARBOWAX. The fragments were immersed on Dec. 20 in a bath of carbowax and distilled water at room temperature; then was gradually heated over a period of six weeks (from Jan. 8, 1962, to Feb. 17), the temperature being increased by stages until at the end it reached 60 degrees centigrade. During immersion, additional quantities of carbowax were added from time to time until at the end of the process the bath was a hot melt of pure carbowax from which all water had been eliminated (tested with silica gel crystals to which a moisture indicator had been added). The fragments were then removed from the bath, excess carbowax was removed from the surface with hot toluol, the pieces were cleaned and then joined (using Karlson's Klister cement); the missing portions of the bowl were filled out in beeswax to which was added dry coloring matter designed to approximate the color of the wood. (Carbowax is polyethylene glycol 4000, produced by Union Carbide Corporation). For best results in the cleaning process it is recommended that the object being treated be suspended in a perforated rack of tray inside the galvanized tank; at the end of the immersion the tray can be elevated above the level of the carbowax and the fragments can be cleaned with hot toluol while the pieces themselves remain warm. Do not allow the wood to cool during the cleaning, as the hardened carbowax does not come off the surface readily. In 1987 lute removed from display, checked for possible damage. Wood apparently in good condition. Photographs taken of cracks on floor. Since the handle had come away from the body, old beeswax restoration removed; it was found to have covered much of the wood. The surfaces were cleaned of the wax and the lute was restored with wax, including the cracks on the floor. It was replaced in the display case. | |
| Material: | Wood | |
| Condition: | Fragment. Fragmentary; about 1/3 of bowl missing and end of string arm. Restored in beeswax. | |
| Dimensions Restored: | H as restored 0.068 | |
| Period: | Middle Byzantine (802-1058 AD) | |
| Chronology: | 1000 AD | |
| Area: | Forum | |
| Nezi Field | ||
| Context: | NB230 B3 P50, LOT 0779 | |
| NB230 B10042 P46 | ||
| Bibliography: | ΔΧΑΕ, Τόμος Γ',1962, pp. 5-125; Ελληνικά Μουσικά Όργανα, 2012, pp. 201, 224. | |
| Site: | Corinth | |
| City: | Ancient Corinth | |
| Country: | Greece | |
| References: | Monument: Forum Monument: Nezi Field Images (6) Basket: NB230 B3 P50 Basket: NB230 B10042 P46 Notebook Page: NB 230, spread 29 (pp. 49 - 50) |
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