JEWS HARP

A copper alloy jews harp (or jaws harp), of the Medieval to Post Medieval period (c. 1400 - 1700).

In plan, the jews harp consists of a sub circular head, and two tapering arms, both with the characteristic lozenge-shaped cross-section. The arms are complete. The rabbet is located at the apex of the head, no trace of the iron tongue remain.

The jews harp measures 63.1 mm in length, 28.0 mm wide at the head (and 12.3 mm wide at narrow end). It has a thickness of 8.8 mm and weighs 21.25 g.

The jews harp is only partially patinated and shows the original colour of the copper alloy on its outer edges. It appears that the object has been cleaned since removal from the ground.

Jews harps, or trumps have a long history of being folk instruments, with a wide geographical distributions. They are believed to be indigenous to South East Asia, and had been introduced to Europe by the Crusades (11th to 14th Centuries AD). The form of the European Jews harp, is made from metal, commonly iron in modern examples. The tongue forms a separate component hammered into a rabbet in the thickest part of the frame. The other end of the tongue is bent into a prong, however this part of the jews harp rarely survives in archaeological examples. To play the instrument, it is held in one hand, with the frame being lightly supported between the player's teeth. The metal tongue is then plucked by the fingers on the other hand. The mouth cavity acts as a resonator and the pitch can be modified by the position of the lips, tongue and cheeks (Egan, 1998, 284).

Four iron jews harps were recovered from excavations in London's waterfront, and have been dated from c.1270 to c.1400 (Egan, 1998, 284-5). Over 150 examples have been recorded on the PAS database, most with a circular head as opposed to a flattened or oval head and the majority of them have been attributed to the Post Medieval period. This example is probably Late Medieval to Post Medieval in dating (1400 - 1700 AD).

Several similar jews harps have been recorded on the PAS database, including: WMID-7C31E5, WMID-473D61, WMID-62A07D, WMID-F8D0D6, HAMP-049973, KENT-056426 and HESH-E8D571.