Post horn

Post horn (Fr.: cornet de poste; Ger.: Posthorn; It.: cornetta da postiglione), valveless brass or copper horn made in a variety of shapes, the signal instr. of postillons and mail-coach guards. In the Germany of Praetorius' day they were coiled; in the France of Mersenne's, crescent-shaped. The Fr. model had acquired a diam. of 30–45 cm. (12–18 in.) by the late 18th c. and became identical with the *bugle horn. The coiled form was also known in France, where it assumed a single coil and looked…