Today we swung through a favorite antiques mall and @benjhawkins spied a set of old rhythm bones in a case. He bought them!
Rhythm bones are a percussion instrument that have been around so long people aren’t sure where they originated; in fact, they may have had several origin points across different cultures. In America, rhythm bones saw a rise in popularity in the 19th century when Irish and Black musicians brought them to the forefront of folk music.
The Bone Player (1856), by William Sidney Mount.
Inexpensive to make and extremely portable, rhythm bones easily went to sea with sailors. The well-worn pair Benji purchased today, like the earliest rhythm bones, are made from actual curved animal bones. Based on their appearance, there is a possibility they are made from whalebone, but we’ll need to do some more research before we can confirm that. Our local community is one with a long history of seafaring, so it’s not impossible this pair is sailor-made.
