Japanese horagai, a trumpet fashioned from a conch shell and fitted with a mouthpiece.

Horagai have longstanding associations in Japan with both religious practice, particularly mountain ascetic traditions, and with martial signalling. The earlier Yamazakura catalogue identified this example as a samurai signal conch and noted the form of the shell, but the precise historical use of this individual example is not documented.

No specific period, workshop or provenance is asserted without supporting evidence. Please examine the photographs carefully for the shell, mouthpiece, surface condition and construction.