Blessed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, inspected by President Bush and insured by Lloyd’s – talk about blowing your own trumpet. But for a unique handcrafted, brushed-gold instrument, its all in a day’s work.
The Elysian Trumpet was hand-built by David Monette (a modern master of trumpet design) and is dedicated to the memory the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The trumpet has a brushed 24k gold finish and its braces are decorated with icons and symbols representing New Orleans' deceased heroes and cultural icons. These icons are meticulously saw-pierced through the metal braces (saw piercing is a technique used extensively in jewellery making and silversmithing). The lavish decoration of the instrument means that the trumpet must be accompanied by an armed guard at all times.
Played by jazz musician Irvin Mayfield Jr, whose father was one of the many people who perished as a result of Hurricane Katrina, the trumpet was commissioned in memory of these victims.
With such an extraordinary background, insuring an instrument like this could prove to be problematic, but according to Graham Young, Class Underwriter for Lloyd’s insurer Heritage, this is an area where Lloyd’s clearly stands out.
He said: “This trumpet is such a unique and clearly special item that it is an obvious way for Lloyd’s to come into play because of the unusual risk. It doesn’t fit neatly into a box, which is where Lloyd’s as a market place excels.”
Valuable musical instruments have been hitting the headlines recently, earlier this year, Robert Napier, left his 1698 Venice-made Goffriller violin on a train after just having it valued by a London dealer at £180,000. A £10,000 reward is being offered for the return of the instrument which has been in the family for generations.
Much luckier Philippe Quint, left his 1723 Kiesewetter Stradivarius violin, in a taxi on the way back from Newark Liberty International Airport, in the United States last month. The driver got in touch the next day to return the instrument receiving a reward of $100 (£50.)
