Horn Color Preference

[Jeff Murray]

Horn makers have a lot of options for finishing their horns.  Aging or leaving them in the white produces a dramatic difference in appearance.  There are three different finishes in the picture.  Which do you prefer?

[rich pierce]

1, then 3, then 2. I understand that they were like #2 when in use. I’m just not loving the “as new” look.

[Hungry Horse]

 I don’t feel real woodsmen of The era  would carry a bright white horn. It would point you out in the forest like a fluorescent arrow. The few horns I’ve examined and repaired seem to have some kind of stain that goes beyond just old dirt.


Hungry Horse

[old george]

Thats what I was thinking also HH

george

[Cory Joe Stewart]

Agreed.  A new horn back in the day would not be left in white.  There were a number of recipes for coloring bone and horn back then. 

Cory Joe

[foresterdj]

And of course, some horns are not white but browns and black.

[Clark Badgett]

And of course, some horns are not white but browns and black.

And some purposely died green.

[Hawg]

I like the color of the one on the left best.

[rich pierce]

And of course, some horns are not white but browns and black.

I really like amber colored horns.

[Tim Crosby]

 I like 1 & 3 and most anywhere in between. I have made many horns and the "aged" horns sell much better. I have had natural color horns on the table for years, nice styled but blaring stark. I added some color and they sold, could have been "the right person at the right time" but "patinaed" or painted horns sell much faster.

  Tim C

[Tony N]

Hands down #1,then #3, followed by #2
They all look outstanding

[Rado]

Personally: 2
They were new in the era, not 200 years old. Plus: Patina should tell the true story of a horn and to me artificial aging is like telling `fairy tales´.
Same goes for engravings. I would only want to have things on the horn that have something to do with my real self and things that I have experienced. At the moment I wouldnt even know what to engrave on a horn.
But I admit that Im a little strange at times. 

[Keith Zimmerman]

Not the middle horn.

[James Rogers]

The right one ; )

[Tenmile]

I like the look of naturally aged horn. Looking at pictures of many original horns, it is  clear that many were stained, but many have a natural patina that would be hard to replicate. Getting a color fast stain on horn may be a little tricky.
Lynn

[Jeff Murray]

Thanks for the feedback.  My shooting kit horn has fairly detailed scrimshaw of the British Crest on the front side and a map on the back side.  I left it in the white.  Forty five years of exposure to powder, the elements and dirty hands has "aged" the horn to a light yellow that tapers to dirty toward the spout.  I also prefer the finish on the left side horn.  My "supervisor" likes the white one but she does not hunt and is completely unconcerned about being spotted unless a grizzly is the observer.

[Bob Gerard]

I also like an amberidh colored horn, or one with some aging to it.
But sometimes the white of a horn works well on a particular horn. This flat horn I recently made screamed at me not to be “aged”. To me it just looks right.