Top of page

Article Armes et Instrumens de Musique du Royaume de Juida / Krygs - en Speeltuig, van 't Koningryk Whida (Arms and Instruments from the Kingdom of Ouida) by Jakob van der Schley, or van Schley, engraver, 1715-1779

This is an illustration depicting arms and musical instruments from the Kindgom of Ouida in West Africa. This illustration is reproduced in a 25-volume book by the Abbé Prévost, Histoire générale des voyages....[1] This plate appears in volume 5, Livre X, Chapitre II, facing page 372, but the text describing it appears in the same volume, in a section entitled "Voyages au long des Côtes Occidentales de L'Afrique. Livre X, Chapitre IV," on pages 371*, 372* and 373*. Volume 5 is dated 1748. The descriptions of the music of the inhabitants of Ouida and their instruments are summarized from the writings of three men - Phillips, Bosman, and Des Marchais:

Their music resembles that of the Côte d'Or.... They have tambours [drums], tymbales, trumpets and flutes. Their tambours are only hollowed tree trunks which are open on one side and closed on the other with a piece of the same wood. The diameter is about twelve or thirteen inches, by about two feet in length. They choose the softest and lightest wood. On the side which is open, they cover it with the skin of a goat or sheep, well-prepared and tied with cords of rush [which one tightens with pegs of wood.] They are surrounded with a small piece of cotton, or another material, like our tymbales, with a band of rolled cotton in order to suspend them from the neck. One uses only a stick to play it, of a very hard wood, and which is held in the right hand; but the left hand does not remain idle. It beats with the fingers and sometimes with the fist. The sound of these tambours is heavy and ponderous.... The King plays music [in his chamber] with a kind of tymbale, which differs little from tambours in form, but which is much larger and longer. [Each Tymbale player has only one tymbale, which is carried around the neck, like tambours, but it is suspended from a plank with cords.] The trumpets are of ivory and of different sizes. One gives to them rightly the name of cornet, but their sound is not more agreeable than that of our cowherd's horns. However the making of these Instruments demands much time and much work.... The flutes are canes, composed of very thin iron sheets, of which the sides have only one hole. The sound is in proportion to the size of their diameter. They are smoothed with much neatness.... The King and Nobles [les Grands] have another musical Instrument, a wicker basket, in the shape of a large bottle, and of seven or eight inches in diameter by about ten in height, without counting the neck, which is about five inches long and which serves as the handle. They fill this basket with shells, which are apparently bujis(?). The player holds the neck of this Instrument in his left hand and shakes the shells in time while the right hand beats the body of the basket.... Another Instrument of Ouida is a cylinder of iron, about an inch in diameter, which turns in a spiral around a baton, and which is open at the end. At the top of the baton it has as an ornament, a copper rooster. The embouchure [mouthpiece] of the Instrument is on the opposite end, and it serves as a flute. [They also have] a kind of tambour, of which the body is a round earthen pot, about a foot in diameter, with an opening about six inches wide, and which is bordered by a circle about one inch high. This opening, or this mouth, is covered with parchment or a well-prepared skin, which is attached to the circle. The use of this Instrument is reserved for the women. They crouch on the ground and, holding it before them, they beat against the pot with a stick held in their hand. While they beat with their right hand, the fingers of their left hand beat on the parchment or skin.

Maurice Byrne offers comments on two of the instruments represented here: the "Trompette d'ivoir" normally has a blowing bole in the side; and, the "Gongon" is some sort of struck resonator.[2]

The Miller print is very close to the impression in Prévost and does not show any evidence of the plate being reworked, thus the Miller etching may have been printed about the same time as Prévost. The paper on which the Miller etching is printed is also very similar to that in Prévost, though the paper and lines of the impression are more "crisp" in the Prévost.

See another image of musical instruments from Africa, also from volume 5, 624/Z. See also two other prints - a bridal procession in China, one uncolored, the other hand-colored - from Histoire générale des voyages, in the Miller Collection, 616/U and 760/U.

About the Artist

Jakob van der Schley, or van Schley, draughtsman and engraver, 1715-1779
Jakob van der Schley, or van Schley, was a Dutch artist who was born in Amsterdam in 1715, according to Bénézit. He died in the same city in 1779. He was a student of Bernard Picart (1673-1733), whose style he imitated. According to Bénézit, van der Schley engraved mostly portraits as well as illustrations for La Vie de Marianne by Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux (1688-1763) which was published in The Hague from 1735 to 1747. Van der Schley also engraved the frontispieces for a 15-volume edition of the complete works of Pierre de Brantôme (1540-1614), Oeuvres du seigneur de Brantôme, published in The Hague in 1740, a copy of which is in the Folger Shakespeare Library, call number 222-635q. There is very little biographical information on Jakob van der Schley in Bénézit or other standard sources on artists. Most of the plates in the Hague edition of Prévost's Histoire générale des voyages (The Hague: P. de Hondt, 1747-1780) carry van der Schley's signature thus, his engravings and etchings for this publication must have been a significant part of his oeuvre.

Notes

  1. Abbé Prévost, Histoire générale des voyages..., published in The Hague by P. de Hondt, 1747-1780. Rare Book and Special Collections Division. LC call number: G160.P94 Pre-1801 Collection. Another set is in the Mariner's Museum Library, Newport News, Virginia, call number: G160.P9 rare. Cathy Williamson, Public Services Librarian at the Mariner's Museum, graciously searched these volumes and provided the above volume and page references, 19 September 2005. [back to article]
  2. Courtesy of Maurice Byrne, via Robert Bigio, London, 5 July 2007. [back to article]

About this Item

Title

  • Armes et Instrumens de Musique du Royaume de Juida / Krygs - en Speeltuig, van 't Koningryk Whida (Arms and Instruments from the Kingdom of Ouida) by Jakob van der Schley, or van Schley, engraver, 1715-1779

Headings

  • -  Articles
  • -  Songs and Music

Genre

  • article

Additional Metadata Formats

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress is providing access to these materials for educational and research purposes and makes no warranty with regard to their use for other purposes. The written permission of the copyright owners and/or other rights holders (such as holders of publicity and/or privacy rights) is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use or other statutory exemptions. There may be content that is protected as "works for hire" (copyright may be held by the party that commissioned the original work) and/or under the copyright or neighboring-rights laws of other nations.

Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permission ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item. Users should consult the bibliographic information that accompanies each item for specific information. This catalog data provides the details known to the Library of Congress regarding the corresponding items and may assist users in making independent assessments of the legal status of these items as related to their desired uses.

Items included here with the permission of the rights holders are indicated as such in the bibliographic record for each item.

The Strad magazine has generously allowed us to reproduce two articles in this presentation: “Exhibition Report: Born in the USA” (July 2006) and “National Treasure” (November 2006).  Users may need to contact The Strad for any re-use of the articles.

In some cases, the Library was unable to identify a possible rights holder and has elected to place some of those items online as an exercise of fair use for strictly non-commercial educational uses. The Library of Congress would like to learn more about these materials and would like to hear from individuals or institutions that have any additional information or know of their history. Please contact:  Performing Arts Reading Room.

Suggested credit line: Library of Congress, Music Division.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Armes et Instrumens de Musique du Royaume de Juida / Krygs - en Speeltuig, van 't Koningryk Whida Arms and Instruments from the Kingdom of Ouida by Jakob van der Schley, or van Schley, engraver, -1779. Web.. https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200182970/.

APA citation style:

Armes et Instrumens de Musique du Royaume de Juida / Krygs - en Speeltuig, van 't Koningryk Whida Arms and Instruments from the Kingdom of Ouida by Jakob van der Schley, or van Schley, engraver, -1779. [Web.] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200182970/.

MLA citation style:

Armes et Instrumens de Musique du Royaume de Juida / Krygs - en Speeltuig, van 't Koningryk Whida Arms and Instruments from the Kingdom of Ouida by Jakob van der Schley, or van Schley, engraver, -1779. Web.. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200182970/>.