Serpent, C
Date1810-1820 ca.
Place MadeMelton, Leicestershire, England, Europe
Serial No.none
SignedPainted in gold letters on the lowest bow as part of the English coat of arms: MELTO[N] BANDMarkingsnone
DescriptionBody of wooden sections, made from hollowed-out halves, covered with leather, painted black, bell interior painted red; bocal, ferrules and keys of brass; braces of iron; fingerhole bushings of ivory.
Six front fingerholes and three keys on the back (one above the the fingerholes, one between the fingerhole triads, and one below the fingerholes). Keys pivot in brass box mounts (two with iron flat springs and one with brass flat spring).
DimensionsHeight: ca. 715 mm
Internal diameter (instrument): ca. 23-90 mm
ProvenanceArne B. Larson Collection, Vermillion, South Dakota, 1979.
Published References“Man Makes Rare Sounds,” Telenews (January 1969), pp. 1, 4.
Gary M. Stewart, “Keyed Brass Instruments in the Arne B. Larson Collection,” SMM Catalog Vol. I (1980), p. 6.
Gary M. Stewart, The Restoration and Cataloging of Four serpents in the Arne B. Larson Collection of Musical Instruments, MM Thesis, University of South Dakota,1978, pp. 56-68, plate XXVII-XXXIV pp. 60-67.
André P. Larson, The National Music Museum: A Pictorial Souvenir (Vermillion: National Music Museum, 1988), p. 33.
Harvey Phillips and William Winkle, The Art of Tuba and Euphonium (1992), Appendix B, p. 91.
Dr. Ido Abravaya, Music at First Sight II- Musical Instruments, 10158, (The Open University of Israel, 2006), p. 134. (published in Hebrew)
Credit LineArne B. Larson Collection, 1979
Object number01279
On View
Not on view
1800-1820 ca.
1810 ca.
1820-1830 ca.
