Lega Conch Shell Trumpet

Before there were telephones, there were shells, and someone who knew how to blow them.

This side-blown trumpet is made from a conch shell by Lega peoples of the Democratic Republic of Congo, 20th century. Horn, ivory and shell instruments were sounded across Central Africa to signal, to summon and to accompany ceremony. A round blowing hole is cut near the narrow end, worked from the tapering spire, and the natural spiral lines still show at the base. The surface has mellowed to honey and ivory, with fine age lines and a darker crack along its length.

On a slim mount, it reads as found sculpture.