I have what is thought to be an old xalam, handmade by the slaves. It has a previous auction sticker on it. It has square head nails holding the skin in place and 4 strings, it still plays. How can I tell if it is real or fake?

More pictures.

It kind of looks like a xalam from the pictures you have provided. However, it is hard to tell because the pictures are so tiny. It would be helpful if you would resize them to be larger.

If it has some of the qualities of construction such as is listed below, then it is likely to be an authentic xalam. For something like this, it would be unlikely for there to be a market for producing those that look like they are antiques.

Below, is a quote from the following site. Xalam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xalam)



The xalam, in its standard form, is a simple lute (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lute) with one to five strings. The wooden body (soundbox) of the instrument is oval-shaped and covered with the hide of cattle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle). The strings of the xalam are typically made of two or three tightly wound strands of low-gauge nylon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nylon) fishing line; these strings are fixed to the instrument's wooden neck by long and narrow leather (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leather) strips and to its wooden bridge by cotton strings. By moving these strips, the instrument's tune can be adjusted. The xalam usually has two main melody strings that are fingered by the left hand (like the strings of a guitar or banjo) and two to three supplementary strings of fixed pitch. Most xalam players construct their own xalams, although they usually call on woodworkers (lawbe) to carve the body, neck, and bridge for them.

National Underground Railroad Freedom Center at Cincinnati USA (http://www.cincinnatiusa.com/Attractions/detail.asp?AttractionID=23)
Give this center a call, they may have someone that you can talk to about your item... which by the way is very interesting.
I bought an old picture in a 2nd hand shop for 2 dollars, years ago and it turned out to be an original oil painting of a artist, well known in the Southern States, Adriondacks , Canada And Iran or these were places that held a lot of her art work. In my searches of her I found that a lot of her art was auctioned off in Canada. I called a PBS station in Canada and sent pictures and the letter that was attached to the back of it. The artist verified that it was her signature but she could not remember the painting or writing the letter. Btw she was in her late 70's then. She thought it was from her early years starting.
The point to my story is keep searching. It took me a while to gather the information on her.

More pictures.

Here are some more musical instruments that look exactly like mine!!

Thanks!

Are you not able to enlarge the images that you have already submitted previously? It would be helpful if you could do that.

If you are having trouble enlarging the images, then I can get someone who would be very helpful in showing you how to do that.

More pictures.
I need help... Thanks

Hey, thanks!

I will let someone know that you need help with resizing and posting of your images here. Okay? I don't know when they will be along though. I just contacted them about another post that I am working with someone on.

It would be good to have a closer look at the pictures of the musical instrument that you have.

Below, is a link to another thread where recently, someone else had trouble resizing and posting images. You might want to check it out. Although, your situation may be different than theirs.

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/collectibles/old-w-e-wheeler-co-170362.html

I need help...........Thanks

Hi there! Clough requested I help with explaining how to resize image and post.

Since you have posted already, I am assuming you know where the file is located on your computer so just go to the image and left click on image once (this chooses it, does not open it) then right click on it. Run your cursor over OPEN WITH, it should show you several choices... if you see Microsoft Photo Editor, left click to open. Your image will show up in that program on your screen. At the top of that screen, you will see File, Edit, View, Image, etc. Left click on IMAGE, it should have a drop down box giving options, left click on "RESIZE" There will be a box that appears that shows the size of your image. On the right side it will show UNITS... on the drop down box you can choose inches or pixels, choose pixels. On this site, when you GO ADVANCED, that is where you can add the image and to do so, the image cannot be larger than 750 pixels. On mine, whatever is largest, height or width, I change it to 400 and the smaller measure changes automatically. Since Clough is needing to view image much larger, just make the pixels 750 or 600, whichever you choose, for the height or width, which ever is the largest. If you choose 750 for the smaller, it will be too large to post. Hope I have not confused you. :)

Once you have done this, PLEASE go to File and choose "SAVE AS"... you can name that image the same as original but add the word at the end as resized. That way you retain the smaller image but also have one you can post. If you want the image to be fairly large, you can go with the 750 pixels, I have used 600 but generally choose 400. That is just personal preference. If I have not left out a step in the instructions, this should allow you to resize your image to allow you to post using "Go Advanced" on the "Answer this Question" box in which I am typing. I will apologize ahead for mistakes I might have made as I have typed. If this does not work for you or you do not have Microsoft Photo Editor, just choose one of the other choices and see if under IMAGE at the top on the drop down box, it gives the option to resize.

I will be around my computer off and all most of the evening. I will check in from time to time. Best to you! Looks like interesting images. I will be anxious to see them enlarged also. :p

I have what is thought to be an old xalam, handmade by the slaves. It has a previous auction sticker on it. It has square head nails holding the skin in place and 4 strings, it still plays. How can I tell if it is real or fake?
Hope this helps...

Thank you both for your help... My setup is a little different but I did send one pic, hope it is helpful though. It seems to be on the 2nd page. Again, Thank you all.

Please go to 2nd page...

Thank you both for your help.......... My setup is a little different but I did send one pic, hope it is helpful tho. It seems to be on the 2nd page. Again, Thank you all.

You're welcome. The image turned out great. You did a great job resizing. I hope you find out all the information available.

Thank You for all your help.

I hope this pictures turn out as well. I am a bit lost with this new PC. As you can see, they did... These show the green line used as well as the leather strips. It is quite old and original I think.

I am confused now, I'm not so sure it isn't an ngoni. The two look so similar.

Thank you for your private message wanting me to respond to your post. You have done a great job with posting the images! I applaud you for that! I do apologize for taking so long in getting back to you.

I think that what your instrument is actually called greatly depends on what section of Africa might be putting a name to it. There are hundreds if not thousands of various stringed instruments from around the world that might belong to the guitar/lute family of instruments. Concerning names for instruments, a case in point might be the thumb piano. There are over 30 different names for it depending on where you might find it referenced in a particular location in Africa. All of the names point to that which is concerning the same kind of instrument.

So, what I am saying is that your instrument could be both a Xalam or Ngoni. It just might depend on where it is from in Africa. And, that is something that we might not ever be able to ascertain.

I do note that on the following site, it is called both names as well as Konting.

http://www.kora-music.com/d/familie.htm

Well being a lot of the slaves during The Atlantic Slavery here in Savannah, came from West Africa (Mali), I will assume the best.. I will call it a Ngoni until told diffrently. Thanks for all your knowledge and hard work.