Tetela Slit Drum, ca. 1900
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GUEST:
This came from my father. He brought it back from Africa. He was there making a film in 1929.
APPRAISER:
What was the title of the film?
GUEST:
Uh, Trader Horn. It was the first talkie made in Africa. They traveled on safari for, I think, 30,000 miles all through Africa. They were there about nine months.
APPRAISER:
Was it a studio film, or...
GUEST:
It was a big film with MGM.
APPRAISER:
Okay.
GUEST:
It was directed by W.S. Van Dyke, and it starred Harry Carey, Edwina Booth, and my father. We had many, and still do, African artifacts. But this one always attracted me because when I was a child, I thought it was a car door. My father passed on some time ago. And, uh, I don't know about its, well, price, but its value. It is hugely valuable to me because it represents my father.
APPRAISER:
Okay, well, tell me a little more about your father. He went on to be...?
GUEST:
Well, he went on to become the Cisco Kid.
APPRAISER:
Right, so the drum. I think it's extraordinary. And, in fact, I've never seen another one exactly like this. There are a number of slit gongs. I'll show you what I mean by a slit gong. It's, as you can see, extremely narrow, the drum. But they've managed to gouge out a huge area inside. So that's a real tour de force to do that. It comes from a tribe called the Tetela tribe, and they are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Kasaï province. They're, a, a large tribe, and they're known for their drums. They have, uh, these wonderful slit drums, uh, very much like the Mangbetu tribe who are nearby. But the Mangbetu do a different sort of shape. This is the only one I've ever seen like this. We know the collection date of it.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
So it's 1929, and so it's got to be before that. It's got some significant wear on the top. And being the sort of hardwood that it is, that takes time to achieve, for sure. So this could easily be the end of the 19th century or the very beginning of the 20th, uh, 1890s, 1900. I'm not sure what the wood is at all. It's, uh, very fine-grained, uh, which gives it this wonderful sound. Uh, would you like to play it?
GUEST:
Well, I'll give a try. This is the way I saw my father play it. (drumming rhythmically)
APPRAISER:
That works. These were probably used in ceremonial rituals. I've noticed there's no sort of carving on this area because that probably would have affected the tone of it, when you start disrupting the surface of the drum. But I have noticed this fluting on the side that goes all the way to the top and some really sort of strong, almost architectural elements in the piece. I think it also probably had a band that was worn, 'cause it's a very heavy object. And if you're wearing this for any particular time for ceremony, it's too heavy just to hold like that. So I think it was supported by a band and held.
GUEST:
Well, it's, I do have an inventory of artifacts my father brought back from Africa. There's a drum listed as a, the telegraph drum.
APPRAISER:
Okay. So I presume that's this.
APPRAISER:
Right. Have you any idea what your father paid for it?
GUEST:
I'm not sure-- I have a customs receipt, and it was admitted to the country with a value of ten dollars.
APPRAISER:
It's very rare. It's one of those sort of "find me another" moments. And I'm really conservative with my prices, and I think probably between $4,000 and $6,000, retail.
GUEST:
I am astonished. My father would be very, very pleased to know he had good taste.
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