Images(3)

Cornopean, A-flat

Maker Henry Courtenay

Date1843

Place MadeAlton, Hampshire, England, Europe

Serial No.none

SignedEngraved on oval German-silver plaque at bell: H. Courtenay. / 1843. / Maker. Alton.
MarkingsStamped on crook: LAB
DescriptionCopper, brass, German silver, double loop, tuning slide at second bow, three Stölzel valves (1, ½, 1½), spring in barrel, clapper key for left hand.

Brass crook of French origin and brass mouthpiece with funnel-shaped, slightly convex cup (both not original but contemporary with the instrument).

Henry Courtenay (1820-1881) was a tinplate worker in Alton, Hampshire, England, who manufactured musical instruments on the side, not professionally.
DimensionsHeight: 265 mm
Tube length: 1193 mm, 1442 mm
Bore diameter (initial, minimum, tuning slide, valve slide): 11.8 mm, 10.8 mm, 10.8 mm, 10.7–11 mm
Bore diameter shank (initial, minimum): 9.4 mm, 8.5 mm
Keyhole position (from bell end): 271 mm
Keyhole diameter: 10.7 mm
Bell diameter: 117 mm
ProvenancePurchased in 1984 from Wurlitzer-Bruck, New York, New York.
Published ReferencesSabine K. Klaus. “Henry Courtenay (1820-1881) of Alton: his life, his Cornopean, and further thoughts on the ‘Clapper Shake Key’,” The Galpin Society Journal, LIX (May 2006), pp. 101-115.

Sabine Katharina Klaus, Trumpets and Other High Brass: A History Inspired by the Joe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection. Volume 3: Valves Evolve (Vermillion, SD: National Music Museum, 2017), pp. 42-44, 50-55, 281, 283, 296.

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

Object number06818

On View

Not on view