The Museum of Cryprozoology and Occult Science brings us this creepy skull lyre made from a real human skull, antelope horns, skin, gut, and hair. What makes it particularly notable is the sheer meta-ness of the piece. It's a reproduction of an original in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art which itself was probably a gaff created in Africa.
"A highly unusual musical instrument in the Museum's collection is a lyre fashioned from a human skull. Although the piece has not been exhibited since before 1980, it gained fame in Jerzy Kosinski's 1982 best-selling novel Pinball—a rock 'n' roll mystery written for George Harrison—and perennially draws attention.
Not much is known about this instrument. It was purchased from an unnamed dealer at the end of the nineteenth century and was originally thought to have come from South America when it was cataloged in 1906, but was later reattributed to Central Africa. There is no known tradition to which this instrument may be assigned, although some have suggested it may have a symbolic or clandestine ritual use. Most likely it is a sensational item made by a clever indigenous entrepreneur for trade and profit with Europeans."
