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At first, it reminded me of a crude version of the (UK) Columbia Plano-Reflex horn design, but the small end seemed too narrow, and sat too low, to be coupled to the underside of a tonearm.

After looking at the photo taken from the other side --
-- and comparing it with other paper-mache horn/speaker images --
-- my guess is that it was originally encased in a cabinet and was used as a radio speaker, with the small end connected to a conduit for the voice-coil or driver.

Joe

Joe,
It is possible but it is very large - over 2 feet in diameter so it would have been a big case - and it appears to have a means of suspending it.
still puzzled !
Andrew

Gramtastic wrote:Joe,
It is possible but it is very large - over 2 feet in diameter so it would have been a big case - and it appears to have a means of suspending it.
still puzzled !
Andrew

Possibly some industrial purpose, such as a theater loudspeaker horn?

Joe

I think it is a loudspeaker horn designed to be used with a driver, just like all the theater horns and the early Radio horns. It may or may not have originally been enclosed in a cabinet. You can't put too much emphasis on the wire.

I think it was originally used for a loudspeaker. Here's a couple of scans...one from RASCO Radio Parts catalogue of 1928 showing a longish radio horn and the other from Percy Wilson's Modern Gramophones and Electrical Reproducers showing that the Columbia Plano-Reflex horn used bends at 45 degrees. And in terms use in the home, horn speakers were just taken as they were. The first cone speakers were often as large as 36 inches and were merely hung on the wall. This era was short-lived once everyone recognized the superiority of dynamic speakers with a baffle.
Jim