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Side-blown horn
Vernacular name:Tori
Date: 1850-1899 ca.
Place Made:Madhya Pradesh, Bastar District, India, Asia
Serial No: none
Signednone
Markingsnone
DescriptionCast bronze (lost-wax technique) incorporating wire decoration, oval mouthhole with bulging rim.
The tori is the only side-blown horn on the Indian subcontinent; its curved shape is reminiscent of the cow horn (akum). The tori is mostly used by young Muria of the ghotul, a socio-religious institution in Madhya Pradesh (district of Bastar, central India). The tori is produced by the Ghasia, a Hindi community of metal-casters, who use the clay from the anthill of white ants for lost-wax technique; the members of this community, therefore, count among the untouchable casts.
The tori is the only side-blown horn on the Indian subcontinent; its curved shape is reminiscent of the cow horn (akum). The tori is mostly used by young Muria of the ghotul, a socio-religious institution in Madhya Pradesh (district of Bastar, central India). The tori is produced by the Ghasia, a Hindi community of metal-casters, who use the clay from the anthill of white ants for lost-wax technique; the members of this community, therefore, count among the untouchable casts.
DimensionsHeight (straight line): 385 mm
Effective tube length: 295 mm
Mouthhole diameter: 12 mm x 20 mm
Bell diameter: ca. 59
Effective tube length: 295 mm
Mouthhole diameter: 12 mm x 20 mm
Bell diameter: ca. 59
ProvenancePurchased in 1996 from Tony Bingham, London, England.
Terms
Credit Line: Joe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999
Not on view
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. 55–56, 283.
Object number: 07179