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Ballad horn, C

Distributor Carl Fischer

Date1925 ca.

Place MadeCzechoslovakia, Europe

Place DistributedNew York, New York, United States, North America

ModelAmerican Model Perfected Grade, no. 548

Serial No.none

SignedEngraved on bell: CARL FISCHER INC. / AMERICAN / MODEL / PERFECTED / GRADE / NEW YORK
MarkingsStamped on receiver: CZECHO - / [S]LOVAKIA
Stamped in valve casings, stems and upper valve caps, respectively: 18, 17, 16 (third valve, sic)
Stamped on second valve casing: 2
DescriptionSilver-plated brass, satin finish, mother-of-pearl finger buttons, triple coil, U-shaped tuning slide at first coil, removable leadpipe (shank missing), three Périnet valves (1, ½, 1½), top-sprung with spring outside hollow stem, alignment by one key on piston (brass), single water key, windway 1-2-3.

Carl Fischer offered this model ballad horn beginning in 1896, but this particular instrument was likely made after his death in 1923, when the firm was renamed Carl Fischer, Inc. Although Fischer catalogs of 1906 and 1918 show slightly different ballad horn models, it appears that the American Model Perfected Grade of about 1925 reverted to the 1896 design. This ballad horn, made in Czechoslovakia for the American market, represents the most expensive version with silver-plated, engraved satin finish, and gold-plated bell interior, model no. 548, which cost $72.00 in Fischer catalogs from about 1925–1928.
DimensionsHeight: 374 mm
Tube length: 2301 mm
Bore diameter (initial, minimum, tuning slide, valve slides): 11.6 mm, 10.8 mm, 11.8–12.6 mm, 12.6 mm
Bell diameter: 205 mm
ProvenancePurchased from Richard Dundas, Rutland, Vermont, 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. 224, 295.

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

Object number06927

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