Soprano saxophone, B-flat
Maker
Adolphe Sax
Date1858 ca.
Place MadeParis, France, Europe
Serial No.17849
SignedEngraved vertically on bell: (script) No 17849 / Saxophone Soprano en si b Breveté / Adolphe Sax à Paris / Fteur de la Mson Milre de l’Empereur / AS (monogram) PARIS (inserted within "S")DescriptionStraight soprano, one-piece body. Brass. Dual octave keys. Side Bb only – no bis-Bb key or automated 1:1 Bb fingering combination. No side C, forked Eb, alternate F# or G# trill keys. Eb/low C keys as well as G#/low C#/low B keys are “button” style and without touchpieces or rollers. Soldered tone holes.
DimensionsEntire length: 25”, 635 mm
Bell diameter: 3 3/8”, 86 mm
ProvenancePurchased from Tony Bingham, London, 1987.
Published ReferencesLarson, André P. _The National Music Museum: A Pictorial Souvenir_. Vermillion: National Music Museum, 1988. (p. 40).
Ingham, Richard, ed. _The Cambridge Companion to the Saxophone_. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. (p. 17).
Howe, Robert S. "The Invention and Early Development of the Saxophone, 1840-1855." _Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society_ 29 (2003): 173.
Credit LineArne B. and Jeanne F. Larson Fund, 1987
Object number04076
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