An important tanbur from The Al Thani Collection is on loan at the exhibition Treasures: Legendary Musical Instruments at the Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix. The exhibition celebrates some of the world’s most notable musical moments, performance traditions, and musical instrument developments. It includes eighty exceptional instruments, including some of the finest from MIM’s collection and more than twenty loans from renowned museums, private collections, and musicians around the world.

The tanbur was the most important stringed instrument in Ottoman music of the 18th century. This example from The Al Thani Collection is made from wood, mother-of-pearl, tortoiseshell, gold leaf, and ivory. Recent research dates it to the early to mid-18th century, making it one of the oldest examples in existence. Further highlights of the exhibition at the MIM include an Amati violin likely made for a royal marriage, the oldest guitar still in existence, a shell trumpet from the Maya civilization and Jimi Hendrix’s Black Widow guitar.

More details of the exhibition can be found here.