Images(2)

Serpent, C

Date1820-1825 ca.

Place MadeMere, Wiltshire, England, Europe

Serial No.none

SignedEngraved on bell garland: WM. LANDER MAKER, MERE, WILTS.
Markingsnone
DescriptionCopper, brass trim, double s-shaped body strengthened with four braces, unusual flaring bell, six fingerholes, three closed keys for F-sharp, B-natural and C-sharp.

Cup-shaped brass mouthpiece with very narrow rim contemporary with the instrument.

This unusual copper serpent is the only surviving instrument by William Lander. It is made of two metal sheets, top to bottom, overlapping at the seams. This method imitaties the traditional way in which French wooden serpents were made, that is, from two carved-out halves.
DimensionsHeight: ca. 750 mm
Tube length instrument : ca. 2240 mm
Tube length (including bocal): ca. 2440 mm
Bore diameter (initial, bell end): 24.5 mm, 206 mm
Fingerhole positions (from receiver): 910 mm, 950 mm, 995 mm, 1340 mm, 1375 mm, 1420 mm
Keyhole positions (from receiver): 740 mm, 795 mm, 1205 mm
Hole diameter (range): 11.7-11.9 mm
Keyhole diameters: 13.7 mm, 17.1 mm, 17.2 mm
ProvenancePurchased in 1995 from Tony Bingham, London, England.
Published ReferencesSotheby’s & Co. Auction Catalogue, Day of Sale 20th January, 1950, no. 72 [?]

Sabine K. Klaus, “William Lander (1763-1843), Mere, Wiltshire. A Forgotten Musical Instrument Maker Rediscovered,” The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 57 (May 2004), pp. 3-18 and 195-203.

-------. "Serpent of Wood and Metal," ITEA Journal for Euphonium and Tuba, Vol. 33, No. 1 (Fall 2005), pp. 82 and 84.

-------. Trumpets and Other High Brass: A History Inspired by the Joe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection. Volume 2: Ways to Expand the Harmonic Series (Vermillion, SD: National Music Museum, 2013), pp. 121, 123–124, 126, 128–29, 255.

-------. “Metallblasinstrumente im Zeitalter des Erfindergeistes” in Valve Brass Music: 200 Jahre Ventilblasinstrumente, ed. by Conny Restle und Christian Breternitz (Berlin: Nicolai, 2014), p. 17.
Kelly Roncone Zappas for an article with the title “The Science of Sound: Examining the Role of Materials in Musical Instruments, published in JOM, Vol. 59, No. 8, p. 13-17.
Douglas Yeo, “A good old note: the serpent in Thomas Hardy’s world and works,” 32–48, esp. 47.
Conny Restle and Christian Breternitz, eds. Valve Brass Music: 200 Jahre
Ventilblasinstrumente . (Berlin: Nicolaische Verlagsbuchhandlung, 2014), p. 17.

------. “Serpente aus Metall,” in: Vom Serpent zur Tuba. Entwicklung und Einsatz der tiefen Polsterzungeninstrumente mit Grifflöchern und Ventilen. Michaelsteiner Konferenzberichte, Band 83 (Augsburg: Wißner Verlag, 2019), pp. 26–27, 36.

Credit LineJoe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999

Object number07129

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