Cornet, B-flat, A
Maker
J. W. York & Sons
Date1913-1915 ca.
Place MadeGrand Rapids, Michigan, United States, North America
ModelCouturier Wizard Model
Serial No.39827
SignedEngraved on bell: [five-pointed star and eagle] / COUTURIER WIZARD-MODEL (within banner) / Made by / J. W. YORK / & SONS / Grand Rapids / Mich. / U.S.A.MarkingsStamped on left side of second valve casing: S / PAT. SEPT. 23-13 / BY E. A. COUTURIER
Stamped on right side of second valve casing, stems, top valve caps (inside), and water keys: 39827
Stamped on quick-change rotary valve: L / 706
Stamped on valve cases, caps, stems and largest guide lug, respectively: 1, 2, 3
DescriptionSilver-plated brass, bell gold-plated inside and with gilded highlights on the outside, mother-of-pearl finger buttons, double loop, main tuning slide at third bow, rotary-valve quick-change to A, fixed leadpipe, three Périnet valves (1, ½, 1½), top-sprung, spring inside hollow stem, alignment by two unequal lugs on spring anchor plate, pistons nickel-plated brass, single water keys (first bow, third-valve slide), windway 3-2-1.
The patent stamp refers to US Patent no. 1,073,593, issued September 23, 1913, to Ernst Albert Couturier, for a cornet with continuously conical bore. Couturier served as a consulting artist for J. W. York & Sons between 1914 and 1916. However, the current cornet has cylindrical not conical tuning and valve slides.
DimensionsHeight: 379 mm
Tube length: 1349 mm (B-flat), 1449 mm (A)
Bore diameter (initial, minimum, tuning slide, valve slides): 9.6 mm, 8.6 mm, 11.9 mm, 11.9 mm (0.469 inches)
Bell diameter: 127 mm
ProvenancePurchased from Steve Dillon, Woodbridge, New Jersey, 1988.
Published ReferencesSabine Katharina Klaus, Trumpets and Other High Brass: A History Inspired by the Joe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection. Volume 4: The Heydey of the Cornet (Vermillion, SD: National Music Museum, 2022), pp. 126-27, 279.
Credit LineJoe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999
Object number06923
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