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Tenor recorder, D

Tenor recorder, D

Date: 1720 ca.
Place Made:London, England, Europe
Serial No: none
SignedStamped on all joints: P u I / BRESSAN / [Lancastrian rose]
Markingsnone
DescriptionStained boxwood.

Born in France, where he apprenticed under Jean Boissier in Bourg and, likely, others in Paris, Bressan (1663-1731) established himself in London in 1688. He became the leading recorder maker of his time.

According to Byrne, the rose of Lancaster in Bressan's mark is reference to his workshop address, which is situated near the Waterloo Bridge. Apparently, the railings thereof bear a similar rose design.
DimensionsOverall length: 615 mm
Sounding length: 542 mm
ProvenancePurchased in 1989 as part of a collection from Dale Higbee, Salisbury, North Carolina. Previously owned by Fritz Spiegl, Liverpool, England.
Credit Line: Higbee-Abbott-Zylstra Collection, 1989
Not on view
Published ReferencesDale Higbee, "J. S. Bach's Sonatas for Recorder and Harpsichord after BWV 525-530," The American Recorder, Vol. XVIII, No. 4 (November 1978), pp. 112-113.

-------, "On Playing Recorders in D: Being a Short History of the Odd-Sized Recorders and Concerning the Revival of the Voice Flute and Sixth Flute," The American Recorder, Vol. XXVI, No. 1 (February 1985), pp. 16-21.

-------, "A Left-handed 'Voice Flute' by Bressan," Galpin Society Journal, Vol. XXXVIII (April 1985), p. 143.

Wendy Powers, "Checklist of Historic Recorders in American Private and Public Collections," The American Recorder, Vol. XXX, No. 2 (May 1989), pp. 60-61.

"1989 Acquisitions at USD Music Museum," Newsletter of the American Musical Instrument Society, Vol. XIX, No. 1 (February 1990), p. 14.
Object number: 04827