Mangbetu Slit Drum, Democratic Republic of the Congonedundo height 15 1/4in (39cm); width 32 1/2in (82.5cm)ProvenanceBernheimer's Antique Art, Cambridge, MassachusettesBertram and Ruth Malenka Collection, Boston, Massachusetts, acquired in 1968Thence by descentPublished and ExhibitedCambridge, Massachusetts, Designs for Living - Symbolic Communication in African Art, Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts jointly with the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, November 2 - December 20, 1982, p. 98, fig. 98.Marie-Thérèse Brincard notes, "Found in the Uele region among the Mangbetu, Zande and Manivu groups, these Mangbetu slit gongs embody pure abstraction of form. Elegance and simplicity in the curvilinear silhouettes characterize these instruments." (Sounding Forms: African Musical Instruments, New York, 1989, p. 128)In a finely carved bell-form design, masterfully hollowed out on the interior with a slit sound hole on top; studded with metal tips along the edge on one side; exceptional glossy dark brown surface.