Clarinet, B-flat
Date1815-1820 ca.
Place MadeLondon, England, Europe
Serial No.none
SignedStamped on top and bottom joints: [fleur-de-lis] / GOULDING-WOOD & CO / PALL MALL / LONDONStamped on bell: [fleur-de-lis] / [indecipherable motif] / PATENT / GOULDING-WOOD & CO / PALL MALL / LONDON
MarkingsBottom two key discs marked: J. WOODS PATENT
Description4 sections: barrel, top joint, bottom joint, bell. Simple system; 6 brass keys with Wood-patent, disc covers with adjustment screws for making airtight seal against tone hole linings, mounted in blocks, with springs attached to keys; boxwood body; ivory ferrules; brass-lined top and bottom joints; brass-lined tone holes; sixth key is A/B trill; wooden mouthpiece with long tenon.
George Goulding first went into business on his own in 1785. Between 1798-1823, he was in various partnerships with Phipps, D'Almaine, Potter, and Wood, but the name of the firm still often appeared simply as Goulding & Co. It was not until 1823 that the firm became known as Goulding & D'Almaine.
James Wood was a skilled woodwind maker active in London from about 1799 to 1832, becoming partner in Goulding & Co. about 1810. He patented several interesting improvements to the clarinet, of which some are present in this instrument.
DimensionsOverall height: 595 mm
Mouthpiece: 63 mm (approx.)
Barrel: 49.5 mm
Upper joint: 194 mm
Lower joint: 231 mm
Bell: 116.5 mm
max diam of bell: 68.7 mm
(all measurements excluding tenons)
Published References"Important Acquisitions Made by Museum During 1981." _Shrine to Music Museum, Inc. Newsletter_ 9, no. 3 (April 1982): 3.
Kramer, Jerry E. _Clarinets Made between 1800 and 1880 from the Collections of the Shrine to Music Museum_. M.M. Thesis, University of South Dakota, 1983. (p. 172-173, 178 and 174 (plate))
Rice, Albert R. _The Clarinet in the Classical Period_. Oxford University Press, 2008. (p. 48)
"1980-1981 Acquisitions at USD Music Museum." _Newsletter of the American Musical Instrument Society_ 11, no. 1 (February 1982): 3.
Credit LineGift of Frederic and Elisabeth Burt, 1981
Object number02890
On View
Not on view
