Oliphant (Side-Blown Trumpet) (late 1800s–early 1900s): Art, History and Details

Oliphant (Side-Blown Trumpet) (late 1800s–early 1900s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Side-blown trumpets were used on various occasions, and ivory examples seem to have been reserved for more solemn circumstances, such as funerals. As the mouthpiece is located on the inner curve, the person who played this instrument held it horizontally. A seated male Yombe ruler wearing a shell necklace and a European-style cloak and hat is carved on top. His blended dress shows how Yombe people (a Kongo sub-group) selectively adopted elements of foreign dress to wear with their own fashions.

Object facts

• Title: Oliphant (Side-Blown Trumpet)
• Date: late 1800s–early 1900s
• Culture: Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo (most likely), Cabinda, or Republic of the Congo, probably Yombe-style maker
• Type: Musical Instrument
• Technique: Ivory
• Dimensions: Overall: 32 x 4 x 6 cm (12 5/8 x 1 9/16 x 2 3/8 in.)
• Collection: African Art
• Department: African Art
• Accession number: 2010.448

A detail from the museum

Kongo Kingdom rulers sent ornately carved large side-blown trumpets to Europe as diplomatic gifts during the sixteenth century.

Collection credit

René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Petridis, Constantine, et al. Fragments of the Invisible: The René and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art. Milan: 5 Continents Editions, 2013, 40-41, 45, 112.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.