Cornet, B-flat, A, low pitch
Maker
C. G. Conn, Ltd.
Date1923
Place MadeElkhart, Indiana, United States, North America
ModelVictor, 80A (custom order)
Serial No.201209
SignedEngraved on bell: VICTOR / C. G. CONN Ltd. / ELKHART, IND. / U.S.A.MarkingsStamped on second valve casing: [six-point star] / 201209 / PATENTED [sideways]
Stamped on hollow stem and quick-change mechanism bar: 201209
Stamped on main tuning slide: 0
Stamped on valve casings and stems, respectively: 1, 2, 3
DescriptionSilver-plated brass, satin finish, burnished highlights, bell interior gold-plated, mother-of-pearl finger buttons, single loop, main tuning slide with micro-tuning mechanism (perpendicular to main tubing, after valve segment), quick-change to A (first bow), push-rod with lock nuts, automated valve-slide tuning mechanism, fixed leadipe, three Périnet valves (1, ½, 1½), top-sprung, spring inside hollow stem, alignment by unequal lugs on spring anchor plate, pistons nickel-plated brass, single water keys (first bow, third-valve slide), windway 3-2-1.
Before 1940, owned by trumpet virtuoso Rafael Mendez (1906-1981). By the 1940s, owned by Paul Leonard, entertainer, whistler, bird-imitator, trumpeter and theremin-player, who took lessons from Mendez at that time. Leonard gave the instrument to Marjorie Z. Tayloe, Hollywood, California, prior to his death in 1981.
DimensionsHeight: 422 mm
Tube length: 1336 mm, 1438 mm
Bore diameter (initial, minimum, tuning slide, valve slides): 9.9 mm, 8.8 mm, 12.3 mm, 12.3 mm (0.483 inches)
Bell diameter: 117 mm
ProvenanceBefore 1940, owned by trumpet virtuoso Rafael Mendez (1906-1981). By the 1940s, owned by Paul Leonard, entertainer, whistler, bird-imitator, trumpeter and theremin-player, who took lessons from Mendez at that time. Leonard gave the instrument to Marjorie Z. Tayloe, Hollywood, California, prior to his death in 1981.
Purchased from Steve Dillon, Woodbridge, New Jersey, 1988.
Published ReferencesSabine Katharina Klaus, Trumpets and Other High Brass: A History Inspired by the Joe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection. Volume 4: The Heydey of the Cornet (Vermillion, SD: National Music Museum, 2022), pp. 106, 115, 145, 281.
Credit LineJoe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999
Object number06904
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