The cornucopia, as a symbol of abundant life and prosperity, is classified under the code white-4 on green-4. This code can give an explanation for the shape of the horn of plenty.
While the horn is often depicted in white-4, a mixture of white and brown (Fig.1), the shape has elements of the green-4 code, associated with the combination black-on-red. The ‘abundance‘ and the ‘flooding‘ are then the main meanings.
In many images, the horn is drawn with a sharp pointing curve at its end. Compare the shape with the teeth of a Vampire, turned upside-down. The curving is the purple primary shape element.
The round ball-shaped fruit, overflowing from the horn, can be identified as an associated black-on-red shape as in the image of abundance. When the scattering is the main meaning, the fruits have the shape of bubbles, such as in the symbols of the white-on-green code.
I. Michiels, red.