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Over-the-shoulder bugle, E-flat
Maker: Elbridge G. Wright
Date: 1853 ca.
Place Made:Boston, Massachusetts, United States, North America
Serial No: none
SignedEngraved on bell: Made by / E. G. Wright. / Boston.
Markingsnone
DescriptionGerman silver, one bow, telescopic tuning slide with gear adjustment at leadpipe, three top-action string-operated rotary valves (1, ½, 1½), spaced cork, flat-spring return, five keys.
This instrument is one of only two extant over-the-shoulder bugles with three valves and five keys by E. G. Wright; the other example is kept at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. Both valve-key bugles match exactly the description of such instruments in Allen Dodworth’s Brass Band School, published in New York in 1853: “soprano cornets have lately been made in this country, combining the advantages of both valves and keys; they have three valves, like the ordinary cornet, with the addition of five keys for the upper notes; the one nearest the bell for the highest A-flat, that with the next for A, the second and third for B-flat, the third and fourth for B, and the fourth and fifth for C."
The positions of the keys are almost exactly the same as those of keys no. 8-12 in E. G. Wrights twelve-key bugle NMM 4893. The bell was formed over the same mandrel as those of keyed bugles NMM 7059 and NMM 7060.
This instrument is one of only two extant over-the-shoulder bugles with three valves and five keys by E. G. Wright; the other example is kept at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. Both valve-key bugles match exactly the description of such instruments in Allen Dodworth’s Brass Band School, published in New York in 1853: “soprano cornets have lately been made in this country, combining the advantages of both valves and keys; they have three valves, like the ordinary cornet, with the addition of five keys for the upper notes; the one nearest the bell for the highest A-flat, that with the next for A, the second and third for B-flat, the third and fourth for B, and the fourth and fifth for C."
The positions of the keys are almost exactly the same as those of keys no. 8-12 in E. G. Wrights twelve-key bugle NMM 4893. The bell was formed over the same mandrel as those of keyed bugles NMM 7059 and NMM 7060.
DimensionsHeight: 642 mm
Tube length: 912 mm, 922 mm
Bore diameter receiver: receiver 10.9 mm
Bore diameter valve slides: 11 mm
Bore diameter tuning shank (initial, minimum): 10.3 mm, 10.1 mm
Keyhole position (from bell end): 421 mm, 459 mm, 494 mm, 526 mm, 563 mm
Keyhole diameter: 12 mm, 12 mm, 12 mm, 11 mm, 11 mm
Bell diameter: 114 mm
Tube length: 912 mm, 922 mm
Bore diameter receiver: receiver 10.9 mm
Bore diameter valve slides: 11 mm
Bore diameter tuning shank (initial, minimum): 10.3 mm, 10.1 mm
Keyhole position (from bell end): 421 mm, 459 mm, 494 mm, 526 mm, 563 mm
Keyhole diameter: 12 mm, 12 mm, 12 mm, 11 mm, 11 mm
Bell diameter: 114 mm
ProvenancePurchased in 1998 from Fred Oster, Vintage Instruments, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Terms
Credit Line: Joe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999
Not on view
Published ReferencesRobert E. Eliason: “D. C. Hall and the Quinby Brothers, Boston Music Industry Leaders: Makers of Brass Instruments with Flat, Round, Square and Piston Valves,” in: Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society 33 (2007), p. 94.
-----. “Elbridge G. Wright: Boston Brass Instrument Craftsman 200th Anniversary,” Newsletter of The American Musical Instrument Society 40, no. 1 (Spring 2011), p. .
Sabine K. Klaus. „Over-the-shoulder cornet by E. G. Wright,” in “Historic Instrument Window,” Sabine K. Klaus, editor, International Trumpet Guild Journal, Vol. 30, No. 4 (June 2006), p. 41.
-------. “Metallblasinstrumente im Zeitalter des Erfindergeistes” in Valve Brass Music: 200 Jahre Ventilblasinstrumente, ed. by Conny Restle und Christian Breternitz (Berlin: Nicolai, 2014), p. 38, 177.
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. 208-209, 212, 221, 223, 250, 287-289, 310.
-----. “Elbridge G. Wright: Boston Brass Instrument Craftsman 200th Anniversary,” Newsletter of The American Musical Instrument Society 40, no. 1 (Spring 2011), p. .
Sabine K. Klaus. „Over-the-shoulder cornet by E. G. Wright,” in “Historic Instrument Window,” Sabine K. Klaus, editor, International Trumpet Guild Journal, Vol. 30, No. 4 (June 2006), p. 41.
-------. “Metallblasinstrumente im Zeitalter des Erfindergeistes” in Valve Brass Music: 200 Jahre Ventilblasinstrumente, ed. by Conny Restle und Christian Breternitz (Berlin: Nicolai, 2014), p. 38, 177.
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. 208-209, 212, 221, 223, 250, 287-289, 310.
Object number: 07334