Pipa
Unknown Artist
1800s
Medium
Wood, ivory, bone, gut
Dimensions
95.4 × 27.4 × 8 cm
Classification
Musical Instrument
Department
Chinese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
The Charles G. King Jr. collection; Gift of Ralph King in memory of Charles G. King Jr.
Accession Number
1918.344
About this artwork
The term pipa, known since the 3rd century BC, describes the playing motion of the right hand: pi, “to play forward” (left), and pa, “to play backward” (right). A type of lute played with the fingers, it is used in opera and storytelling ensembles and has an impressive, virtuosic solo repertoire. Historic imagery, such as wall paintings, documents the spread of the pipa, along the Silk Road from western and central Asia to China. The bat finial here is a commonly used device on 19th-century Chin...