ANTIQUE CONGO 8 STRING "MONKEY HARP" -DRC, ZAIRE -Price Reduced

Description

This rare and unusual folk instrument, a carved wooden "Monkey Head" 8 string harp, was acquired from the estate of a collector who made frequent trips to rural areas of the Congo -then known as Zaire- in the 1970s.
I don't know when it was made, probably sometime in the 20th century.  (That's just a guess.)
The second photo shows the assembled harp, without strings.
The L-shaped stick, or pillar, has 8 holes, which probably once held tuning pegs, now missing.  It is also missing the strings.  The stick fits into a hole in the monkey's head.  A sheet of tin is nailed to the soundbox.  The tin sheet also has 8 holes, for the ends of the strings.
Although overall condition is good, there are some issues:
The wooden body of the harp is dry and has some splits, and a few nails are missing from the tin sheet.
Some words or letters are etched into the side of the harp, but they are illegible.