Nepal
Nepalese 

Copper, buffalo hide
Mid 20th century
Diameter: 15.75 in, Depth: 9.5 in
Membranophones – Struck Membranophones

 The damaha is a single headed kettledrum made from leather and copper.  It is played with one or two either straight or angled wooden sticks. The buffalo skin head is laced on to the bowl with leather trim and straps that loop down the sides and around a metal ring on the bottom.  The damaha provides the bass percussion in the Panche Baaja. The Panche baja (“five musical instruments”) is a set of five traditional Nepali musical instruments that are played during holy ceremonies, especially marriages. They are usually played by the Damai (tailor-musicians) and the Gaine (professional musicians and itinerant bards) castes in the Hindu tradition.   The diameter (15.7 inches) of this damaha indicates that it comes from eastern Nepal.  The smaller damaha (also seen in this collection) comes from the Gorkha district (western development region) in Nepal. 

Resource: ‘Damaha,’ Mireille Helffer/Gert-Matthias Wegner, Simonne Bailey, “The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments,” 2^nd ed., Vol 2. Laurence Libin, Editor in Chief. Oxford University Press.