Nice small Swiss Alphorn 51 cm long. The horn was mainly used by herders to lure their cows to the stable or the milking stalls, or to keep them at ease during the milking. Around 1527, the cow herders used their alphorn to make money during the winter by playing and begging. This is also a reason to believe that the horns were shorter then, because taking a three-meter long horn from the Wallis, accross the passes of the Berner Oberland to Luzern accross the pass roads from that era (mainly mule and mountain pathways), was not an easy matter. You can also see a shorter horn indicated as an alphorn on the engravings, drawings and paintings from the 19th century. The alphorn has surely been used to warn people of danger, sickness, accidents, or to call for a gathering. For a meeting or a call to arms, as is documented in Entlebuch at the start of the Peasant War in 1653. In short, a nice piece of history about the small Swiss Alphorn. Can be shipped at buyer's risk, shipping costs at buyer's expense.