Bought this horn today at an antique shop and I’m trying to find out when it was made, by whom and how/with what materials? I know that the metal parts are made of tin because these are sometimes called “tin horns”. There are no initials or any readable or otherwise discernable engravings on the horn or on the tin parts. A reverse image search lead me to an old auction that was concluded a while ago: https://www.tradera.com/item/341133/705890164/dryckeshorn-cornucopia-tenn-och-horn-norge
The term “Cornucopia” didn’t help either and mine is missing a cap whose underside probably would have provided me some information.
Anyway, the pattern and engravings on the tin parts are about the same, but the one from the auction is missing the hind leg that mine has. Two more pictures:
UPDATE: This item on Etsy is similar too. And they say it’s Norwegian from the 1950’s. https://www.etsy.com/listing/4414888836/norwegian-tinn-pewter-drinking-horn-with
I second the comment about the hallmarks being crucial to id the maker.
I’ve been a silversmith by trade for years though, so there are a few things I can tell you about the materials used.
This looks rather modern to me. The soldering looks made with an electric welder/electric soldering iron, as opposed to any fire/torch methods. I’m not familiar with soldering with welders so I’ll leave it to others to confirm. However, if true then you can start estimating the maximum age for it. I’d be surprised if it was over a hundred years old.
Next is the decor. The patterns are made with punching tools, also called chisels sometimes. It’s not a particularly elaborate or sophisticated pattern or execution of technique so whoever did this wasn’t working under any big name smiths. It gives off the feel of a hobby or quickly made artisan’s craft. It’s neat an the result looks good but it’s not sophisticated at all. Going back to the chisels used, these also feel relatively new to me. The round punches are too perfect but don’t seem to have been hammered repeatedly, which means the round tool used was probably made with a bur on a drill, just like I’ve made mine. If it were something really old the punches would be showing more signs of imperfections especially since whoever made this only hammered once or twice each punch, not enough to cover up anything. Since the marks are too round and perfect, I take it as another sign of being relatively new.
My two cents
Edit: i see your update about the Norwegian listing from 1950 and I say 1950 sounds credible enough. Yours looks recently burnished though, making it look even newer but that could have been done just before the auction.
This might be [email protected] worthy.
Wow! Thank you for sharing your knowledge on this! If there is any truth at all to what it says on the Etsy page, it should be from around the 1950’s maximum. I figured it’s not the work of anybody prominent in the crafting circles, since, as you said, it all feels quite simplistic. My mother just pointed out that the horn itself could be from “simple” domesticated cow/bull. No offense, dear cows. 🐄🐃.
An appraiser will definitely be more familiar with things such as how horns age, and would be able to see the item first hand. It’s a nice horn but yes there isn’t anything too outstanding about it. Glad I could share something interesting about it, sorry it’s not really much.