I am a harpist with several harps but recently acquired a curious ten string lyre with a beautiful sound. It is wire strung but unlike most lyres has no bridge, instead the strings are threaded right through the sound box opening and anchored to the base. I found only one instance of a kinnor lyre having strings threaded through its soundbox and no others. There is at least one other identical to mine so it seems to be a design of an instrument maker. Any thoughts here would be so appreciated. It has a deep and rich tone. Please see photos attached.
Identifying an unusual lyre
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Cassandra Sciortino
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Sun Jun 15, 2025 3:52 am
Identifying an unusual lyre
Dear Forum,
I am a harpist with several harps but recently acquired a curious ten string lyre with a beautiful sound. It is wire strung but unlike most lyres has no bridge, instead the strings are threaded right through the sound box opening and anchored to the base. I found only one instance of a kinnor lyre having strings threaded through its soundbox and no others. There is at least one other identical to mine so it seems to be a design of an instrument maker. Any thoughts here would be so appreciated. It has a deep and rich tone. Please see photos attached.
I am a harpist with several harps but recently acquired a curious ten string lyre with a beautiful sound. It is wire strung but unlike most lyres has no bridge, instead the strings are threaded right through the sound box opening and anchored to the base. I found only one instance of a kinnor lyre having strings threaded through its soundbox and no others. There is at least one other identical to mine so it seems to be a design of an instrument maker. Any thoughts here would be so appreciated. It has a deep and rich tone. Please see photos attached.
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Jim McConkey
- Posts: 1094
- Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2012 4:00 pm
- Location: Way north of Baltimore, MD
Re: Identifying an unusual lyre
Never seen one like that before, but a reverse image search on Yandex turned up this: https://marinimadeharps.com/kinnor.htm
It has an essentially similar harp, made by a company in Pennsylvania. Apparently a type called in Kinnor harp.
It has an essentially similar harp, made by a company in Pennsylvania. Apparently a type called in Kinnor harp.
MIMForum Staff - Way North of Baltimore
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Cassandra Sciortino
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Sun Jun 15, 2025 3:52 am
Re: Identifying an unusual lyre
Thank you so much, Jim. The only difference is the marini has a bridge. I found other kinnor's of different design (jubilee for example) that do thread through the opening at top. Its definitely a kinnor. alas, I would love to find the maker as there seems to be at least one other floating about in North America.