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Lot Essay
The Irish Bronze age is a period characterised by a wealth of innovations, most notably the development of metalworking.
Irish trumpets have long been a subject of interest as they provide invaluable information about Late Bronze Age culture in Ireland.
There are over 90 extant examples, mostly all of which can be found today in museum collections. Many proposed classifications have been made based on decoration, shape and distribution and this horn has been classified by J. M. Coles (op. cit.) as an exceptional example of Class I side-blow . The bell is decorated with eight low bosses and groups of grooves in a linear pattern with a closed end that has a loop and another loop with ring attached placed between this end and the mouth-hole.
The function of these instruments is uncertain. J. M. Coles (op. cit), notes that those that can still be blown have one, or at most two notes; this one produces a note between A and A-flat. It seems probable, therefore, that they were used as a means of transmitting signals than for any musical qualities they may have possessed.
Irish trumpets have long been a subject of interest as they provide invaluable information about Late Bronze Age culture in Ireland.
There are over 90 extant examples, mostly all of which can be found today in museum collections. Many proposed classifications have been made based on decoration, shape and distribution and this horn has been classified by J. M. Coles (op. cit.) as an exceptional example of Class I side-blow . The bell is decorated with eight low bosses and groups of grooves in a linear pattern with a closed end that has a loop and another loop with ring attached placed between this end and the mouth-hole.
The function of these instruments is uncertain. J. M. Coles (op. cit), notes that those that can still be blown have one, or at most two notes; this one produces a note between A and A-flat. It seems probable, therefore, that they were used as a means of transmitting signals than for any musical qualities they may have possessed.