Soprano saxhorn, E-flat
Maker
Isaac Fiske
Date1850 ca.
Place MadeWorcester, Massachusetts, United States, North America
Serial No.none
SignedEngraved on silver plaque at bell: Isaac Fiske / Maker / Worcester, Mass.Markingsnone
DescriptionBrass, single loop, upright bell, telescopic tuning slide with gear at removable leadpipe, three double-piston valves (½, 1, 1½), spring in guide tubes.
Old, probably original brass mouthpiece, flat rim; detachable, telescopic tuning slide; trapezoid conifer case with light brown varnish.
Possibly Fiske’s "newly improved valves" displayed at the second exhibition of the Worcester County Mechanic’s Association in 1849, although precursors were known in the 1830s in Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium.
DimensionsHeight: 468 mm
Tube length: 958 mm (including tuning slide)
Bore diameter receiver: 10.2 mm
Bore diameter valve slides: 10.8 mm
Bore diameter tuning slide (initial, minimum): 10 mm, 9.6 mm
Bell diameter: 126 mm
ProvenancePurchased in 1992 from Steve Dillon, Sayreville, New Jersey.
Published ReferencesEliason, Robert E. Early American Brass Makers (Nashville, Tennessee: The Brass Press, 1981), p. 36 and 55.
Garofalo, Robert & Mark Elrod. Of Civil War Era Musical Instruments & Military Bands (Charleston, West Virginia: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, 1985), p. 26.
Sabine K. Klaus, “Metallblasinstrumente im Zeitalter des Erfindergeistes” in Valve Brass Music: 200 Jahre Ventilblasinstrumente, ed. by Conny Restle und Christian Breternitz (Berlin: Nicolai, 2014), pp. 26, 193.
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. 98-101, 106-109, 246, 299
Credit LineJoe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999
Object number07062
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