Clarinet, C
Maker
Heinrich Grenser
Date1796-1806 ca.
Place MadeDresden, Saxony, Germany, Europe
Serial No.none
SignedStamped on upper joint only: [Saxon swords] / H-GRENSER / [star] [star]Stamped on barrel joint only: [Saxon swords] / 2
Markingsnone
Description5 sections: barrel, top joint, middle joint, bottom joint, bell. Simple system; 5 brass keys with flat, square covers, mounted in rings, blocks and lower stock bulge, with flat springs attached to keys; boxwood body; horn ferrules; top joint third fingerhole doubled; integral wooden bell rim.
Dating of this instrument takes into account the crossed Saxon swords, which Heinrich Grenser (1764-1813) included in his maker's mark from 1796-1806, shortly after he took over the workshop from his uncle, August Grenser (1720-1807). According to woodwind scholars, his signature thereafter included a crown, as Saxony had become a kingdom.
DimensionsHeight without mouthpiece: 543 mm
All measurements exclude tenons:
Barrel: 58 mm
Lower joint: 109 mm
Upper joint: 165 mm
Bell: 106 mm
Middle joint: 95 mm
Bore at top of top joint: 13.9 mm
Bore at bottom of top joint: 13.7 mm
Length of top tenon of top joint: 22.7 mm
ProvenancePurchased Mickie Zebley, Lark in the Morning, Mendovino, California, 1988.
Published References"Important Acquisitions made by Museum in 1988." _The Shrine to Music Museum Newsletter_ 16, no. 2 (January 1989): 2.
Reeves, Deborah Check. “The Clarinets at the Shrine to Music Museum.” _The Clarinet_ 24, no. 3 (May/June 1997): 44-46.
Young, Phillip T. _The Look of Music: Rare Musical Instruments, 1500-1900_. University of Washington Press, 1980. (p. 151)
Young, Phillip T. _4900 Historical Woodwind Instruments: an Inventory of 200 Makers in International Collections_. London: Tony Bingham, 1993. (p. 103)
Credit LineBoard of Trustees, 1988
Object number04242
On View
Not on view
