Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Source Description
A member of the lute family, there is perhaps no more emblematic instrument of the Islamic world than the oud. It provided music for banquets and gatherings, accompanied poets, punctuated celebrations and festivals, and is still prominent today. The oud is included in the medieval philosopher al-Farabi’s (872–950/951) <em>Great Book of Music</em> <em>(Kitab al-Musiqa al-Kabir</em>) in which he discusses the modal system of Arabic music. The defining characteristics of an oud are evident here: a pear-shaped body with a fretless fingerboard and a peg box set at a 45-to-90-degree angle to the neck.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
98651
label
Oud
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
98651
contentType
object
title
Oud
description
A member of the lute family, there is perhaps no more emblematic instrument of the Islamic world than the oud. It provided music for banquets and gatherings, accompanied poets, punctuated celebrations and festivals, and is still prominent today. The oud is included in the medieval philosopher al-Farabi’s (872–950/951) <em>Great Book of Music</em> <em>(Kitab al-Musiqa al-Kabir</em>) in which he discusses the modal system of Arabic music. The defining characteristics of an oud are evident here: a pear-shaped body with a fretless fingerboard and a peg box set at a 45-to-90-degree angle to the neck.
date
late 1800s–early 1900s
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79485158
genreSpecific
Musical Instrument
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 81.3 x 33.7 cm (32 x 13 1/4 in.)
cul
West Asia
accession
1918.35
Source extras
tec
Wood, gut, and metal
tombstone
Oud, late 1800s–early 1900s. West Asia. Wood, gut, and metal; overall: 81.3 x 33.7 cm (32 x 13 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Charles G. King Jr. collection; Gift of Ralph King in memory of Charles G. King Jr., 1918.350
collection
Islamic Art
inscriptions
inscription
Work of Alexander, going to New York 1892
inscription_remark
Arabic text on the interior label.
didYouKnow
The oud has influenced music traditions throughout the world by becoming the European lute, the Chinese <em>pipa</em>, and the Indonesian <em>qanbūs</em>.
citations
citation
"Accessions." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 5, no. 8/9 (1918): 82-85.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 82
citation
D. S. M. "Exhibition of Musical Instruments." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 8, no. 9 (1921): 134-43.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 134-137
creditline
The Charles G. King Jr. collection; Gift of Ralph King in memory of Charles G. King Jr.
updatedAt
2026-05-29 05:19:35.754000
sourceId
98651
dept
Islamic Art
coll
Islamic Art
med
Wood, gut, and metal
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
bdeff59fd1df8efd