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Cornet, C, B-flat, low pitch

Trade Name Henri Gautier

Distributor Lyon & Healy

Maker Bohland & Fuchs

Date1906 ca.

Place DistributedChicago, Illinois, United States, North America

Place MadeAustria, Europe

ModelVirtuoso

Serial No.14142

SignedEngraved on bell: Henri Gautier, / “Virtuoso”
MarkingsStamped on left of second valve casing: PAT. JULY / 17-1906 / 14142
Stamped valve stems and valve caps (inside): 14142
Stamped on valve casings, stems and caps (inside), respectively: 1, 2, 3
DescriptionSilver-plated brass, mother-of-pearl finger buttons, double/triple loop, main tuning slide (second bow), key-changing loop (either connected for B-flat or not for C), low-pitch slide (third bow), removable leadpipe, three Périnet valves (1, ½, 1½), top-sprung, spring outside stem, alignment by one key on nickel-plated pistons, single water key at first bow, windway 3-2-1.

Silver tuning shank for B-flat.

Same model as cornet 00709, also signed “Henri Gautier / Virtuoso” with similar tuning slide construction, stamped B&F and AUSTRIA on the second valve casing. This justifies attribution to Bohland & Fuchs in Graslitz. “Henri Gautier” was a trade name used by Lyon & Healy in Chicago.

The patent may refer to US patent no. 826,473 from July 17, 1906, by Ferdinand A. Buescher, of Elkhart, Indiana. The main principle of this patent is that it has three instead of two tuning slides: one for key change, one for tuning, and one for pitch change. This is also the design of the present cornet, although it lacks the sophisticated rod and lug system of Buescher’s patent. In the present cornet the key change slide consists of a small loop, which is either part of the windway (for B-flat) or cut-off from the main tubing by forming a dead-end loop (for C).
DimensionsHeight: 312 mm
Tube length: 1097 mm, 1168 mm, 1261 mm, 1332 mm
Bore diameter (initial, minimum, tuning slides, valve slides): 12 mm, 10.3 mm, 11.6 mm, 11.7 mm, 11.7 mm, 11.7 mm (0.459 inches)
Bore diameter (shank, initial, minimum): 9.4 mm, 8.6 mm
Bell diameter: 119 mm
ProvenancePurchased from Vince DiMartino, Danville, Kentucky, 1997.
Published ReferencesSabine Katharina Klaus, Trumpets and Other High Brass: A History Inspired by the Joe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection. Volume 4: The Heydey of the Cornet (Vermillion, SD: National Music Museum, 2022), pp. 154-55, 283.

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

Object number07265

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