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Horns

Bamum Messenger Trumpet B

Cameroon grasslands
Bamum

Bronze and Buffalo Horn
ca. Early 20th Century

Length: 28.5 inches
Aerophone - Lip Vibrated - Horn

The messenger's trumpet/horn is very important to a village. It signals important messages & ceremonies. It is made of a bull's horn & topped with a 'lost wax' figure on the tip of the horn. The bronze figure is 12 inches long x 4 inches wide x 4 inches deep. This messenger is royally dressed with hat, necklace, skirt and ankle bracelets. He is holding a shield and small club in one hand and a horn in the other. In the center of the bull's horn is a square cutout (back side of this picture) where you buzz your lips to produce the sound.

 

Owner:
Catalog#: AF-AELV-36-46

Collected in early 1980's in Cameroon in by Norah Vanderploeg of Quebec, Canada