![Fife in B-flat [A-flat]](/internal/media/dispatcher/97096/preview)
![Fife in B-flat [A-flat]](/internal/media/dispatcher/97096/full)
Fife in B-flat [A-flat]
Maker
Johann Pfaff
Date1843-1863 ca.
Place MadePhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, North America
Serial No.None
SignedStamped: J. PFAFF (arched) / PHILAMarkingsStamped above signature: PATENT APPLIED FORDescriptionOne-piece body of dark-varnished, birdseye maple, with seamed brass ferrules. Cylindrical bore. Tapered profile with double-flared swell at embouchure (patented design), and fingerholes of uniform size. Oval embouchure hole.US Patent No. 45,270, November 29, 1864, "Improvement in Fifes."
Philadelphia woodwind maker Johann (John) Pfaff (1816-1887) intended to form a "ridge or protuberance at each side of the mouth-opening of a fife" that would enable the performer to "readily adjust the instrument to his lips, and to maintain it in its adjusted position without the care and effort required to accomplish the same result with ordinary fifes."
DimensionsOverall length: 438mm
Acoustical length: 345mm
Maximum swell diameter: 25.5mm
Bore: 11mmProvenanceNo known provenance.Published Referenceshttps://fifemuseum.com/j-pfaff/
Credit LineGift of Lynn and Steve Dillon, 2023
Object number15444
On View
Not on view![Fife in B-flat [A-flat]](/internal/media/dispatcher/98330/thumbnail)
1803-1818 ca.
![Fife in C [B-flat]](/internal/media/dispatcher/95973/thumbnail)
![Fife in C, B-flat [B-flat, A-flat]](/internal/media/dispatcher/97464/thumbnail)
1850-1950 ca.
1920-1935 ca.
![Cornet, [B-flat], A, high pitch / low pitch](/internal/media/dispatcher/11889/thumbnail)