Walking-stick clarinet, B-flat
Alternate name(s)
- Cane clarinet
Maker
Franciskus Christiani
Date1830 ca.
Place MadeAmsterdam, Netherlands, Europe
Serial No.none
SignedStamped on top and bottom of body (with bottom signature upside down): [crown] / CHRISTIANI / [sunburst] / AMSTERDAMMarkingsnone
DescriptionFour sections: cane tip, one-piece body, end joint, cap (handle). Stained boxwood made to look like bamboo. Pads are small, flat, leather covered stuffed pads. Pointy part of cane tip is covered in metal (brass?). Simple system with 13 keys cut and carved from body; no ring keys.
To change the cane into a clarinet the tip is removed and the mouthpiece is inserted into the body with a regular thread covered tenon. End joint screws (with screw threads) off body, and cap screws off this joint. Mouthpiece can be stored in the end joint this way. It looks like the end joint is not used to play the instrument. The body bore already flares at the bottom; the end joint itself starts with a considerably smaller bore at top and then flares to its end (to accommodate storage of mouthpiece).
DimensionsOverall length of cane (from top of handle to tip of stick): 937 mm
Overall length (from tip of mouthpiece to bottom of end joint): 707 mm
Overall length (from top of body to bottom of end joint): 632 mm
Overall length (from tip of mouthpiece to bottom of body): 578 mm
Body: 501 mm
Bottom joint: 121 mm
Cap: 49 mm
Tip: 259 mm
Bore at bottom of body: 28.5 mm
Bore at bottom of bottom joint: 29.0 mm
ProvenancePurchased from Tony Bingham, London, 2001.
Published ReferencesReeves, Deborah Check. "Historically Speaking." _The Clarinet_ 29, No. 4 (September, 2000): 32.
Credit LineBoard of Trustees, 2001
Object number10004
On View
Not on view
1680-1750 ca.
