Alto recorder, F
Alternate name(s)
- Treble recorder
Maker
Jan Steenbergen
Date1720 ca.
Place MadeAmsterdam, Netherlands, Europe
Serial No.none
SignedStamped on all joints: I : STEENBERGEN (in scroll) / [fleur-de-lis]Markingsnone
DescriptionThree sections, ivory; thumbhole and six fingerholes on main joint, one fingerhole on the foot joint (fingerholes 6 and 7 are both doubled).
Steenbergen likely apprenticed with Richard Haka sometime between 1692 and 1700. The double lower fingerholes enable increased chromaticism and make this instrument unique when compared to other Dutch recorders of the time. According to Jan Bouterse (Dutch Woodwind Instruments and their Makers, 1660-1760), this feature and the excellent state of preservation make this "one of the most exceptional extant recorders made in the Netherlands."
DimensionsOverall length: 490 mm
Sounding length: 430 mm
ProvenancePurchased in 1998 from Tony Bingham, London, England. Previously owned by a private collector, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Published ReferencesJan Bouterse, Dutch Woodwind Instruments and their Makers, 1660-1760 (Utrecht: Koninklijke Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis, 2005).
Jan Bouterse, “The Alto Recorders of Steenbergen,” FoMRHI Quarterly No. 91 (April 1998), Comms # 1569, pp. 19-27.
"Recent Acquisitions," America's Shrine to Music Museum Newsletter 25, No. 5 (November 1998), pp.6-7.
Credit LineRawlins Fund, 1998
Object number06172
On View
Not on view
