A zither can be a variety of instruments having multiple strings stretched across a thin, flat body. That body or soundboard has a soundhole or opening that resonates and projects the sounds made on the strings.
Zithers are typically played by strumming or plucking the strings with the fingers or a plectrum. In some cases the strings are bowed. Then there’s the off-shoot of the family, where the strings are struck with mallets or hammer like in the case of the hammered dulcimer or the piano.
One of the earliest known, surviving example comes from China and it’s called a Gugin. A fretless instrument, found in the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng dating from 433 BC
A Qanun is a zither from the Middle East with a long history as well. Qanuns are used in Arabic music, Turkish music, and Northern African music with slight variations of tuning and technique depending on the region.
One of the strange 20th century versions was the concert zither. It had four or five fretted melody strings, placed above a guitar-like fretboard; 12 unfretted “accompaniment” strings; followed by 12 unfretted “bass” strings; followed by a varying number of “contrabass” strings. Similar to the one in the photo.
This one here is a concert zither made by Hug & Cie from Zürich, most likely from the 1930s. Asking $100 as is.
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