The lyre - lirica
Blato, Korčula, the 1st half of the 20th century
wood (spruce), plastic, rope
cutting, drilling, carving
length = 51 cm
length of neck = 22,20 cm
body width = 17 cm
length from the first peg to the bottom of the instrument = 38 cm
Et 6223
The Collection of Musical Instruments
The lijerica is a pear-shaped chordophone. Its neck and body are crafted from one block of spruce wood. There are five pegs (“čivija”) on top of the neck. Two crescents are carved on the upper side of the soundboard, and a simple rosette is burnt. Since this lijerica does not have its original strings, strings were made of plastic and rope.
The lijerica accompanied dances. It was widely used along the Adriatic coast, however nowadays it is only played around Dubrovnik, Konavle, Pelješac peninsula, and on islands of Mljet and Lastovo (Ćaleta, 2001:428)
