Southeast Tanzania and Northern Mozambique
Makonde

African Blackwood
ca. Mid 19th century
Length: 30 inches
Chordophone – Zither – Trough

A trough zither has a soundboard where the sides curl up in a slightly concave manner mimicking the shape of a platter. 

The Makonde people are renowned throughout East Africa for their original and skilled carvings. This excellent carved Makonde zither with a finial carving of a female with child on back, is made from African Blackwood. The Makonde are one of the five major tribes in Tanzania who originally migrated north from Mozambique to the southern Tanzanian highlands.