Anklang
Unknown Artist
late 19th century
Medium
Wood
Dimensions
Stand: W. 188 x H. 76.2 cm (74 x 30 in.)
Classification
Idiophone-Shaken-rattle
Culture
Javanese
Department
Musical Instruments
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889
Accession Number
89.4.756
Art Historical Context
**Anklang: A Javanese Shaken Rattle** Step into the rhythmic world of 19th-century Java with *Anklang*, a striking wooden idiophone classified as a shaken rattle. Crafted in the late 19th century by an unknown Javanese artisan, this instrument stands elegantly on a custom wooden base measuring 188 cm wide by 76.2 cm high. As an idiophone, it produces sound through the vibration of its own material—likely wooden elements filled with pellets or beads that clatter when shaken—making it a vital tool for creating textured, percussive effects in traditional ensembles. In Javanese culture, instrume...