A little horn-shaped charm, worn in Italy against the malocchio, the evil eye, and kin to the fig-hand charm, the mano fico. Old ones were made of red coral, gold or silver; ours are metal only.
Record, Folk and Modern are kept apart, and each one carries its source.
We found no dated early record of the horn charm itself. The nearest dated piece in our files is a related Italian charm, a fig hand, described in the next layer. If you know an early record of the cornicello, we would like to see it.
In Italy, people wear small horn-shaped charms against the malocchio, the evil eye. They belong with other Italian charms of the kind: the Science Museum holds a coral mano fica, a fig hand set in silver, made in Verona between 1850 and 1920 and worn against the evil eye.
To verify: When and where the horn charm is first recorded
Many old horns were carved from red coral. We use no coral and no animal horn: ours is metal only. It is made as a pendant for grown-ups, never as a bracelet or charm for a baby or a child.
