HISTORIC TRUMPET

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 116, 19 May 1938, Page 22

HISTORIC TRUMPET

RELIC OF ANCIEMJ GREEC|

The British Museum|is td presented with 1 an .exact Copy' of "a ''musical instrument, found in Cyprus, which has a history of 2500 years behind it—a trumpet whiph was produced by the ancient Greeks. The trumpet is of clay or earthenware, and, so far as is known, there is not another one In existence ' of such antiquity. Remarkably enough, despite the years that have passed since it was fashioned, it can still be played. • ,• This relic of the potter's craft Is considered by a British Museum expert to have been constructed between ; the years 600 B.C. and 300 B.C. Yet, such is its state of preservation, that,.blown as a bugle, it still-emits a ,clear, farcarrying note. ( When it was presented recently to the chief of the Nicosia Museum, Cyprus, it was sounded by a bugler of the Cypriote police. Thp assembled company heard which first came from the bell-mouth in the'time of classical Greece—the days of Marathon and Thermopylae. ; " How it has come to be preserved unharmed through the ages is a mystery. It was found 'at Trikomo, on the east side of Cyprus, close to the site of ancient Salamis. , ~> Then it came into the possession of a retired JR.A.F. officer, who lives in Cyprus, Wihg-Commahder T. OH.'Hubbard. Now it has been presented to the Nicosia Museum, the formal ceremony of handing over thte. reli£ fceing attended by Sir John Forsdyke. Director of- the British Museum,- and his predecessor, Sir George Hi 11.,, The Trikomo trumpet is exactly 24iri in length, and it weighs <14oz. The straight tube and bell mouth are characteristic of Greek trumpets from the sixth century B.C. onwards.

Trumpets of the type are occasion" ally seen in representation on ancient vases, but references to their use are vague. They may have been of • votive character. \ ; Neither this possibility nor the employment of bronze and other metals at the same period alters the fact that the Trikomo trumpet is "a veritable musical instrument aS effective today as it was 2500 years ago. Looking at it carefully, it is still possible to sjee the staining on its surface caused Dy the grip of its player's hand hundreds of years ago.