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Horn (Pungi)

19th century, inventoried 1897
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
In 1491 Kongo courtiers playing ivory horns, or mpungi, received the Portuguese delegation to Mbanza Kongo led by Ruy de Sousa. Beyond their prominence at court, mpungi were sounded to rally troops and to relay orders on the battlefield. At the Loango court musicians played “very melodiously on curved horns made from large and small elephant tusks” and announced the coming of the Maloango and of lesser princes. While early European visitors to Mbanza Kongo and Buali commented on the use of ivory horns in courtly pageantry, they did not remark on applied decoration.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Horn (Pungi)
  • Date: 19th century, inventoried 1897
  • Geography: Cabinda, Angola
  • Culture: Kongo peoples
  • Medium: Wood, ivory, vegetable fiber
  • Dimensions: L. 40 1/8 in. (102 cm), Diam. 4 in. (10 cm)
  • Classification: Bone/Ivory-Musical Instruments
  • Credit Line: Museu da Ciência da Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing