Cornet, B-flat, A, high pitch / low pitch
ALTERNATE NAME(S)
- Parlor cornet
Maker
C. G. Conn
Date1912-1913 ca.
Place MadeElkhart, Indiana, United States, North America
ModelNew Invention Parlor model
Serial No.129600
SignedFloral engraving surrounding: MADE BY / C. G. CONN / ELKHART / - IND. –MarkingsStamped on back of water key: 9600
129600 / 1 2 3 B (note that on the 2 outer valves, the 1’s & 3’s are stamped over each other, in error) / UNION / LABEL
DescriptionSilver-plated with satin (sand-blast) finish. Both interior and exterior of bell gold-plated and burnished. Inlaid mother-of-pearl finger buttons. Three tower-spring pistons, two guidepins each. One water key on tuning slide.
Parlor or pocket cornets were first advertised by Conn about 1888 and continued to appear in company literature through the early 1920s. Although compact in appearance, the wind passage of the Parlor cornet was identical to that of the other cornets of its era. Specifically marketed for the use of “tourists, ladies, and musicians who do not wish a large or heavy instrument,” this instrument sold for $65 in 1913.
DimensionsHeight: 230 mm
Bell diameter: 115 mm (4-1/2")
Bore 0.419" (10.65 mm).
ProvenancePreviously belonged to donor’s mother, who played it in high school.
Published ReferencesScott, Marshall L. _The American Piston Valved Cornets and Trumpets of The Shrine to Music Museum_, D.M.A. Thesis, University of Wisconsin, 1988, p. 163.
Banks, Margaret Downie, and James W. Jordon. “C. G. Conn: The Man (1844-1931) & His Company (1874-1915).” _Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society_ 14 (1988): 94, 98 (Photo of Union Label).
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. 40)
Klaus, Sabine Katharina. _Trumpets and Other High Brass: A History Inspired by the Joe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection. Volume 4: The Heyday of the Cornet_. Vermillion, SD: National Music Museum, 2022. (p. 186)
Credit LineGift of John and Francis Uglum,1984
Object number03340
On View
Not on view
