Owner: HWMC
Catalog#: 2AF-IDPL-08
Source: Bastin, Marie-Louise. “Musical Instruments, Songs and Dances of the Chokwe (Dundo Region, Lunda District, Angola).” African Music, vol. 7, no. 2, 1992, pp. 23–44. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/30249804.
Lamellophones
Luvale 'Sanza'
Northwestern Zambia and Southeastern Angola
Luvale (Lovale)
Wood, metal, wire
Mid 20th Century
Length: 7.25 in; Width: 4 in; Depth: 1.25 in at keys
Idiophone – Plucked – Lamellophone
The Luvale (Lovale) people are a Bantu ethnic group found in northwestern Zambia and southeastern Angola. They are closely related to the Lunda to the northeast, but also share cultural similarities with the Chokwe people of eastern Angola. For that reason, many of their artistic styles are similar.
This Luvale sanza has nine (9) metal keys (lamellas) suspended from a U-shaped metal bridge. The top and bottom portions of the single wooden board resonator is decorated beautiful with incised carvings of geometric patterns of the yitoma type. Attached to the bottom is a metal rod with five (5) rounded metal strips/bands called ‘mayuku,’ for buzzing sound effects.