Traces of yellow ochre were found on the sculpted menorah; but nothing on the trumpets, and their coloration is purely speculative.? The quotation by Fine makes it clear that the hypothetical silver color is indeed a speculation based on one Roman description of horns, many centuries after the putative events described in Numbers.? Also, that description is from Josephus, whose reliability is variable.??
An academic review of Fine's book on the restoration of the arch:
https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2022/2022.06.27/
"The other coloration of the mock-up is a hypothetical reconstruction done with the aid of comparanda, including computer scans and “comparisons with ancient Roman frescoes” (p. 25). It would have been especially gratifying to know for certain that the two trumpets attached to the shewbread table—as shown in the Polychrome Model—were painted grey and not yellow, indicating silver rather than bronze, and thereby recalling the initial pair that Moses is said to have crafted for the Tabernacle at Sinai (Num. 10.2 and cf. Josephus, Antiquitates Judaicae 3.291–2)."?
sneffels