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1902.9.32.1

Ivory side-blown trumpet with brass band to prevent splitting. [CAR 02/12/2008]

1902.9.32.1

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Collection type
Object
Description
Ivory side-blown trumpet with brass band to prevent splitting. [CAR 02/12/2008]
Long description
Side-blown trumpet from very large elephant tusk, strongly curved, solid part much reduced in thickness. Solid tip flattened with some rough carving in bands near end. Near centre on concave surface is mouth hole raised above surface and communicating with natural hollow of the tusk. Open end somewhat damaged, and a brass band was added to prevent splitting.
Geographical reference
Nigeria
Africa > Western Africa > Nigeria
Southern Nigeria Niger Delta Rivers State Bonny
Cultural groups
Ijo
Kalabari Ijo
Person
Field collector Dandeson Coates Crowther
PRM source William Allan
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1888
Date collected
6 August 1888
Acquisition information
Donated: 1902
Materials and processes
Material Elephant Tooth Ivory Animal, Material Brass Metal, Process Perforated
Dimensions
Width: max 38 mm, Diameter: max 127 mm, Length: max 1225 mm, Length: max 47 mm, Length: max 205 mm, Length: max 225 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 1902.9.32.1 Accession number: 1902.9.32.2 Accession number: 1902.9.32.3
Research and responses

According to Hélène La Rue (personal communication), the term 'side-blown' is preferred to 'side-blast' for this type of object. [RTS 6/12/2004; JC 27 5 2009]

For an account by the donor of a visit to Bonny in 1888, including a brief discussion of the 'skull temple', see pages 27-30 of My Visit to West Africa (Gleaners' Union Tracts, Series A, no. 1), by the Rev. W. Allan, M.A. (London: Church Missionary Society 1889). (A copy of this booklet was transferred from the RDF for 1902.9 to the Balfour Library on 26 May 2009; a photocopy of the relevant pages being retained in the RDF for 1902.9.31-.45.) [JC 27 5 2009]

For a transcription by Elin Bornemann and Jeremy Coote (June 2009) of a manuscript by Archdeacon Crowther entitled ‘Facts of the Ikuba - skull house, from the mouth of natives’ (forwarded to the Museum by the Reverend William Allan with a letter dated 19 January 1902 to an unspecified recipient at the University Museum / Pitt Rivers Museum, presumably Henry Balfour), see the entry for 1902.9.31. [JC 12 6 2009]

For an account of the rebuilding of the ikuba shrine by the high priest Jaja in the 1860s, see page 73 of The Missionary Impact on Modern Nigeria, 1842-1914: A Political and Social Analysis (Ibadan History Series), by E. A. Ayandele (London: Longmans, 1966). (Copy in RDF for 1902.9.) [JC 20 4 2012]

Associated publications
Reference: Finding the Forgotten: Locating Transatlantic Slavery in The Pitt Rivers Museum Collection, Main author: Jane Webster, 2025, Page: 118

Search terms: Music, Religion, Musical Instrument, Religious Object, Trumpet