NMM 1375.  Thighbone trumpet (rkang gling), eastern Tibet, mid-19th century. Brass body with hollow, perforated knob. Silver flame ornamentation on knob and bell. Thighbone trumpets constructed of metal produce a more audible, piercing sound than those of bone, allowing them to be heard above the characteristic drone in the monastic ensemble. Ringley Fund, 1976.

Literature: "Important Acquisitions Received," Shrine to Music Museum, Inc., Newsletter Vol. 4, No. 1 (October 1976), p. 2.

Thomas E. Cross, Instruments of Burma, India, Nepal, Thailand and Tibet, The Shrine to Music Museum Catalog of the Collections, Vol. II, André P. Larson, editor (Vermillion: The Shrine to Music Museum, 1982), p. 26.

Thomas E. Cross, Instruments of Burma, India, Nepal, Thailand and Tibet, M.M. Thesis, University of South Dakota, May 1983, p. 64, plate XXIV.

Go to Checklist of Musical Instruments From Tibet and Nepal

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