Cornet à pistons, C, B, B-flat, A, A-flat, G, G-flat, F, E, E-flat, and D
Maker
Denis Antoine Courtois
Date1844-1856 ca.
Place MadeParis, France, Europe
Serial No.988
SignedStamped on bell: ANTOINE COURTOIS / FACTEUR DU CONSERVATOIRE / RUE DU CAIRE A PARISMarkingsStamped on valve cases, valve caps and spring stems: 1, 2, 3
Stamped inside third valve cap: 988
Stamped on brass tuning shank: UT
Stamped on crook: LA
Stamped on crook: LA I
Stamped on crook: SOL
Stamped on crook: FA
Stamped on German-silver placque on crook (not original): LAB
DescriptionBrass, German silver, turnable bell, tuning slide at second bow, three Stölzel valves (1, ½, 1½), spring in barrel.
Wooden case with mahogany veneer, red leather interior, brass fittings; two mouthpieces, both with silver-plated cups, one of brass (probably original), the other one of German silver (contemporary with the instrument); brass tuning shank and two brass tuning bits usable together with the shank; five brass crooks (one not original); coupler; extra tuning slide for the second valve; music lyre.
Antoine Courtois was active at Rue Caire in Paris from 1844 to 1856, the instrument can be dated accordingly. The bell is detachable and can be fixed in the desired position with a wing screw. Cornets à pistons with turnable bell were popular in Parisian salons at the time.
DimensionsHeight: ca. 275
Tube length: 1096 mm, 1155 mm, 1306 mm, 1396 mm, 1481 mm, 1576 mm, 1776 mm, 1921 mm, 2016 mm, 2216 mm
Bore diameter (initial, minimum, tuning slide, valve slide): 12.1 mm, 10.4 mm, 11.4 mm, 11.5 mm
Bore diameter shanks and crooks (initial, minimum): 9.6–9.5 mm, 8.9–8 mm
Bore diameter coupler (initial, minimum): 12.1 mm, 10.3 mm
Bell diameter: 123 mm
ProvenancePurchased in 1992 from Tony Bingham, London, England.
Published ReferencesSabine Katharina Klaus, Trumpets and Other High Brass: A History Inspired by the Joe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection. Volume 3: Valves Evolve (Vermillion, SD: National Music Museum, 2017), pp. 38-40, 50, 52, 54-55, 295.
Credit LineJoe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999
Object number07065
On View
On view
Adolphe Sax & Cie
1846-1854 ca.
