Güiro
Unknown Artist
A güiro is a hollowed tube most often made of gourd but also of wood, metal or plastic with ridges on one side. Rhythmic accompaniment is produced when a stick or comb is rubbed against the ridges. Common in both the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa where it has many names, it provides a rhythmic pulse for different types of Latin-American and Africa music.
Credit: The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889
Late 19th century
Gourd
38.1cm
89.4.1437
Image and text © Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2023
Where you'll find this
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Permanent collection