Cornet, [E-flat, C, B-flat], A, high pitch, [low pitch]

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Cornet, [E-flat, C, B-flat], A, high pitch, [low pitch]

Maker C. G. Conn & Dupont

Date1876

Place MadeElkhart, Indiana, United States, North America

ModelFour-in-One

Serial No.3

SignedEngraved on the bell: Conn AND Dupont / MAKERS / ELKHART, / IND.
MarkingsStamped on valve casings, respectively: 1 2 3
Stamped additionally on second valve casing: 3
Valve slides scored to indicate extensions to C, B-flat, and A; a second set of marks, numbered 1 2 3, for longer valve-slide extensions is likely intended for low pitch.
DescriptionSilver-plated brass, burnished. Three top-sprung Périnet valves with spring outside stem. Offset valve alignment. Leadpipe with fixing screw, serving as main tuning slide receiver for crooks. Leadpipe enters third valve. Bell tube comes out of second valve. Two water keys on A crook and first valve bend tube. Pull ring on second valve slide. Thumb ring on first valve casing. Only A crook survives, crooks for E-flat, C, and are B-flat missing.
Symmetrical engraving on both sides of bell includes a four-petal flower, leafy vines, and an ovoid sun, extending back almost to the third valve.

This very early cornet, only the third to be manufactured jointly by Conn and Dupont, pre-dates the Four-in-One patent from 1878. This cornet displays the principal features of the patent, most noticeably an additional bend at each valve casing, and pistons with four passages, but it differs in some details. Especially noticable is the placement of the second valve to the left of the first and third valves, ergonomically suited for the longer middle finger. This feature was common in French cornet à pistons. The double scoring of the valve slides indicates that this cornet was originally equipped with high pitch and low pitch shanks and crooks.
DimensionsLength of body: 335mm
Length with crook and mouthpiece: 377mm
Initial diameter crook: 9.5mm
Initial diameter receiver instrument: 11.6mm
Bore (internal diameter inner slides second valve): 12mm
Bell diameter: 119mm
ProvenanceGift of Elizabeth (Gussie) Echols, Elkhart, Indiana, 2001.
Published ReferencesKlaus, Sabine Katharina. _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 (p. 144)

Banks, Margaret Downie. _Elkhart's Brass Roots: an Exhibition to Commemorate the 150th Anniversary of C. G. Conn's Birth and the 120th Anniversary of the Conn Company_. Vermillion: The Shrine to Music Museum, 1994 (p. 13)

Credit LineGift of Elizabeth (Gussie) Echols, 2001

Object number09951

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