Cornetto in the form of a snake

Date1998

Place MadeSandy, Utah, United States, North America

ModelCroatalis II

Serial No.none

SignedStamped below thumbhole: JMC (monogram)
MarkingsStamped below signature-ligature: [Ichthys] (Christian fish symbol)
DescriptionLowest note with all tone holes closed: g

American black cherry wood, two halves, leather covered, double-s shaped with snake's head (painted red inside), silver tongue and brown glass eyes; octagonal, top part with carved diamonds; four bindings (receiver, end of diamonds, between the fingerhole triads, and at the beginning of the snake's head); leather impressed with rings and arabesques. Six fingerholes, thumbhole.

Buffalo-horn mouthpiece.

This copy of a serpentine cornetto with snake's head is inspired by north Italian instruments in the Musée de la Musique in Paris (E.581 and E.582). Zoomorphic instruments of this type were especially suited for use in early opera performances.
DimensionsHeight: 630 mm
Tube length: 675 mm
Bore diameter (initial, minimum): 10.3 mm, 8 mm
Bell diameter (internal): ca. 20 mm
Thumbhole position (from receiver): 245 mm
Fingerhole position (from receiver): 275 mm, 315 mm, 356 mm, 414 mm, 458 mm, 502 mm
Hole diameter range: 6.8-7.8 mm
ProvenancePurchased in 1998 from John R. McCann, Sandy, Utah.
Published ReferencesKlaus, Sabine Katharina. Trumpets and Other High Brass: A History Inspired by the Joe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection. Volume 2: Ways to Expand the Harmonic Series (Vermillion, SD: National Music Museum, 2013), pp. 101, 254.

Credit LineJoe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999

Object number07343

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