End-blown trumpet
Date1900-1959 ca.
Place MadeTibet, Asia
Serial No.none
SignednoneMarkingsnone
DescriptionCopper, brass trim decorated in repoussé with dragons in clouds and fret patterns; three telescoping sections; flat-cupped mouthpiece as integral part of the first section.
Two types of dung-chen (long trumpet) can be distinguished: zangs-dung (copper trumpet), and rag-dung (brass trumpet). Dung-chens are made in identical pairs and used for morning and evening calls from the roofs of Buddhist monasteries, in religious ceremonies, and in processions. When played by kneeling monks, the bell rests either on the floor or a wooden stand; during procession the instrument rests on the shoulder of another monk. Although the dung-chen is capable of producing several pitches, low and medium tones (an octave apart) are most important, while a high tone is rarely used.
DimensionsHeight/Tube length: 1389 mm
Height collapsed: 567 mm
Bell diameter: 174 mm
ProvenanceIn 1980, sold by a trumpet maker, Kathmandu, Nepal, to Scott Sorenson, Burnsville, Minnesota. Purchased in 1991 from Sorenson.
Published ReferencesKlaus, Sabine Katharina. Trumpets and Other High Brass: A History Inspired by the Joe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection. Volume 1: Instruments of the Single Harmonic Series (Vermillion, SD: National Music Museum, 2012), pp. 48–49, 281.
Credit LineJoe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999
Object number07039
On View
Not on view
1985-1999 ca.
1800 ca.
1890-1910 ca.
1600-1867 ca.
1850 ca.
1990 ca.