Clarinet, E-flat
Maker
Graves & Co.
Date1832-1845 ca.
Place MadeWinchester, New Hampshire, United States, North America
Serial No.none
SignedStamped on bell: (eagle) / GRAVES & Co / WINCHESTER / N. H. / E bStamped on upper joint: (eagle) / GRAVES & Co / WINCHESTER / N. H.
Stamped on lower joint: GRAVES & Co / WINCHESTER / N. H.
Markingsnone
Description4 sections: barrel, top joint, bottom joint, bell. Simple system; 13 brass keys with flat, round covers, mounted in blocks, with flat springs attached to keys; cocus wood (Brya Ebenus) body; ivory ferrules; touchpieces of E/B and F-sharp/C-sharp keys are furnished with brass rollers; integral thumbrest; wooden mouthpiece (not original) and mouthpiece cup; original wooden case.
This clarinet is well-made and shows a high degree of craftsmanship. It would certainly be classified as up-to-date with its European counterparts. Unlike most other American clarinets from the time, including other Graves clarinets, this instrument is made from cocus rather than boxwood. The reinforced mounts, the brass saddles, and the cocus wood construction indicate that Graves must have intended this instrument to endure time, and, maybe, to be used under less-than-ideal circumstances. Perhaps, it was intended for the military.
Samuel Graves (1794-1878) began making woodwind instruments in West Fairlee, Vermont, in 1824. Graves subsequently moved to Winchester, New Hampshire, in order to tap into water power from a dam on the Ashuelot river, and opened a new workshop there in 1827, along with three partners (Graves & Alexander). From 1832, the company was known as Graves & Co., the first to challenge European instrument makers in the American market, with a larger production and a more extensive line of instruments than any other American firm before the Civil War.
Dimensions(all measurements exclude tenons)
Overall length (from tip of mouthpiece to bottom of bell): 489 mm
Overall length (from top of barrel to bottom of bell): 429 mm
Barrel: 36 mm
Top joint: 132 mm
Bottom joint: 161 mm
Bell: 92 mm
Bore at top at top joint: 12.6 mm
Bore at bottom of top joint: 11.5
Bore at bottom of bottom joint: 17.9 mm
ProvenanceAccording to Tom Meacham, Anchorage, Alaska, this clarinet was traded in to John Kagerer, an instrument repair technician popularly known as the "Horn Doctor" in Anchorage. Kagerer swapped it with Robb Stewart, instrument maker and restorer based in Arcadia, California, for a helicon brass instrument. Purchased from Stewart, 2001.
Published References“Recent Acquisitions.” _National Music Museum Newsletter_ 28, no. 4 (November 2001): 6-7.
Reeves, Deborah Check. "Historically Speaking." _The Clarinet_ 33, no. 1 (December 2005): 26.
Reeves, Deborah Check. "Historically Speaking." _The Clarinet _ 48, no. 3 (June 2021):32-34.
Reeves, Deborah Check. "Made in the USA: A Comparative Study of Clarinet by Graves and Company, Winchester, New Hampshire." In _Liebe zerflossenes Gefuhl. Die Karinette, Symposium im Rahment der 30. Tage Alter Musik in Herne 2005_, edited by Christian Ahrens and Gregor Klinke, 23-30. Munchen: Musikverlag Katzbilchler, 2008.
Credit LineBoard of Trustees, 2001
Object number10022
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