Natural horn, F
Maker
Johann Carl Kodisch
Date1684
Place MadeNuremberg, Germany, Europe
Serial No.none
SignedEngraved on bell garland: MACHT . IOHANN . CARL . KODISCH . NVRNBERG 1684MarkingsMaster’s mark with initials engraved on bell garland: [horse jumping to the left] ICK
DescriptionBrass, garland and ferrule silver plated; garland with scallop-shell decoration, floral engravings, and applied cast hunting figures; Nuremberg rim, rolled wire (pomegranate, flower, vine tendril, bunch of grapes, pear, and five-petal leaf decoration); helical fluting ferrule.
Towards the end of the seventeenth century, Nuremberg trumpet makers were experimenting with new designs, among them coiled instruments which combined features of the trumpet and the horn. This instrument is an example; it has a trumpet-like mouthpiece ferrule and relatively small bell, but at the same time the coiled body shape of a horn and conical tubing throughout. The applied hunting figures indicate that it was intended as a hunting horn.
DimensionsHeight: 376 mm
Tube length: 1782 mm
Bore diameter (initial, minimum): 8.8 mm, 7.4 mm
Bell diameter: 150 mm
ProvenancePurchased in 2000 from Walter J. Erdmann, Goslar, Germany.
Published ReferencesKlaus, Sabine Katharina. Trumpets and Other High Brass: A History Inspired by the Joe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection. Volume 1: Instruments of the Single Harmonic Series (Vermillion, SD: National Music Museum, 2012), pp. 104, 109, 111-13, 126-27, 132-34, 149, 153-54, 264.
Klaus, S. K. "Horn oder Trompete? Ein Instrument von Johann Carl Kodisch, Nürnberg 1684," in: Jagd- und Waldhörner: Geschichte und musikalische Nutzung. Michaelsteiner Konferenzberichte, vol. 70, ed. by Boje E. Hans Schmuhl and Monika Lustig (Augsburg: Wißner, 2006), pp. 155-176.
Klaus, S. K. "Acquisition of a Superb Horn built by Johann Karl Kodisch in 1684 Helps Preserve a House Built in Germany in 1510," America’s Shrine to Music Museum Newsletter 28, no. 3 (August 2001), pp. 4-5.
Credit LineJoe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection, 2000
Object number07459
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