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Vented Serpentine Trumpet, D, C

Vented Serpentine Trumpet, D, C

Alternate name:Serpentine-shape trumpet
Maker: John Webb
Date: 1990
Place Made:London, England, Europe
Serial No: 153
SignedStamped on brass-cartouche at bell: WEBB / LONDON
MarkingsStamped on mouthpiece receiver: 153
DescriptionBrass, serpentine or figure-of-eight body shape, tuning slide at leadpipe; English four-vent-hole system; two crooks for C and a tuning shank for D.

This instrument is a free copy of the serpentine trumpet, made by Anton Schnitzer the Elder in Nürnberg in 1585 for trumpeter Cesare Bendinelli. Bendinelli presented the original to the Accademia Filarmonica di Verona in 1614. John Webb's copy is compromised in having four vent holes with screw caps, a spun two-part bell, and a shank and crooks with a tuning slide section that can be fixed with a wing screw.

Based on John Webb's instrument files at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Collection of Historic Musical Instruments, Glasgow, this instrument can be dated to January 1, 1990.
DimensionsHeight: 518 mm
Tube length: ca. 2150 mm (D), ca. 2325 mm (C), ca. 2450 mm (C)
Bore diameter: 11.9 mm, 11.3 (minimum)
Bell diameter: 104 mm
ProvenancePurchased in 1990 from Scott Sorenson, Burnsville, Minnesota.
Credit Line: Joe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999
Not on view
Published ReferencesKlaus, Sabine Katharina. Trumpets and Other High Brass: A History Inspired by the Joe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection. Volume 1: Instruments of the Single Harmonic Series (Vermillion, SD: National Music Museum, 2012), pp. 85, 269.
Object number: 06996