The name 'buhai' means bull, and it’s the bellowing of this animal that the instrument is thought to resemble, even though the membrane of the drum is made from rabbit skin and the hair flowing over the top is from a horse’s tail. The player’s wetted hands are pulled alternately along the strand of horsehair that passes through the skin. It’s traditionally played at New Year celebrations in Romania.

This object is one of thousands of musical instruments in the Horniman collection, displayed in their own museum gallery of sounds – crashes, bangs, zithers and plonks. It’s an active space, full of music, and is a joy to be in, even if some of the objects are made out of materials that might make some visitors wince. Poor bunny.