Cornet, E-flat
Distributor
Martin, Pollmann & Co.
Date1872-1879 ca.
Place MadeMarkneukirchen, Saxony, Germany
Place DistributedNew York, New York, United States, North America
Serial No.none
SignedEngraved on bell: Manufd by Martin, Pollmann & Co, New York.MarkingsStamped on underside of touchpieces and on valve-case rings: 25, 26, 27
DescriptionGerman silver, single loop, telescopic tuning slide with gear adjustment at leadpipe, three side-action (lever over) string-operated rotary valves (1, ½, 1½), stop arm, spiral-spring return.
Form-fitted case carved out of a block made up of staves of alternately colored wood (ash, mahogany, and holly); German silver cornet mouthpiece contemporary with the instrument.
The New York-based brothers Godfrey Robert (ca. 1835–ca. 1900) and John Henry Martin (1835–1910), natives of Dresden, established a partnership with Henry August Pollmann (1848–1905) in 1872. The firm Martin, Pollmann & Co. is listed from 1872 to 1879 at 31 Courtlandt Street in New York. Pollmann was the grandson of Markneukirchen brass instrument maker Johann Gottfried Pöllmann (1783–1854) and the son of Heinrich August Pöllmann (1824–1903), likewise a trained brass instrument maker. Henry August Pollmann likely learned his craft from his father, who later was active mostly as a dealer, providing his son in New York with the necessary instruments and parts from Markneukirchen.
This cornet has braces that are typical for the Vogtland region, suggesting that at least some of the parts—if not the whole instrument—are of Saxon import.
DimensionsHeight: 304 mm
Tube length: 912 mm, 923 mm
Bore diameter receiver: 10.6 mm
Bore diameter valves: 10.5 mm
Bore diameter tuning slide: 10.2 mm, 9.8 mm
Bell diameter: 105 mm
ProvenancePurchased in 1985 from Stewart and Lillian Caplin, New York, New York.
Published ReferencesSabine K. Klaus, “German-American Relationships: Immigration and Trade Factors in America Brasswind Instruments during the 19th Century,” in: Laurence Libin (ed.), Instrumental Odyssey. A Tribute to Herbert Heyde. Bucina: The Historic Brass Society Series No. 9 (Hillsdale, New York: Pendragon Press, 2016), p. 89.
Sabine 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. 209, 234-235, 250-251, 307.
Credit LineJoe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999
Object number06827
On View
Not on view
