Clarinet, B-flat
Maker
Meacham & Co.
Date1827-1828 ca.
Place MadeAlbany, New York, United States, North America
Serial No.none
SignedStamped on barrel, middle joint, bottom joint, and bell: MEACHAM & Co / ALBANYMarkingsIncised into upper joint, in descending order: A / B F / A E / C G
Description5 sections: barrel, top joint, middle joint, bottom joint, bell. Simple system; 5 brass keys with flat, square (2) and round (3) covers, mounted in rings, blocks, and lower stock bulge, with springs attached to keys; boxwood body; ivory ferrules. Wooden mouthpiece with grooves for string ligature, and long tenon. The upper joint characteristics indicate it is not original to the instrument.
Brothers John Meacham Jr. (1785-1844) and Horace Meacham (1789-1861) were among the first American wind instrument makers. They served an apprenticeship with George Catlin, who was working in Hartford, Connecticut, but very few instruments survive from their Hartford period. In either 1810 or 1811, John moved to Albany, New York, and was soon followed by Horace.
The firm had a short partnership with Sylvanus B. Pond (later of Firth, Hall & Pond), as Meacham & Pond (1828–32), and after his departure, Roswell S. Meacham (son of Horace) took over the business in 1833, advertising for military and music businesses as Meacham & Co.
DimensionsHeight: 57.6 cm upper joint: 166mm
Mouthpiece: 61.8 mm middle joint: 108.8 mm
Barrel: 57.8 mm lower joint: 126 mm
Bell: 103.2 mm max diameter of bell: 80 mm
(All measurements excluding tenons)
ProvenancePreviously owned by Howard Hulbert, McGraw, New York, who sent it to Mrs. Evan Hulbert, Bemidji, Minnesota, October 11, 1967. By 1980, owned by Sandra Hulbert, Spring Valley, Minnesota.
Published ReferencesKramer, Jerry E. _Clarinets Made between 1800 and 1880 from the Collections of the Shrine to Music Museum_. M.M. thesis, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, 1983. (p. 62, Plate VII, p. 64, Appendix p. 177)
Reeves, Deborah Check. "Historically Speaking."_The Clarinet_48, no. 4 (September 2021): 22-23.
Credit LineGift of Sandra Hulbert, 1980
Object number02720
On View
Not on view
