Soprano cornet, E-flat
Maker
J. W. York & Son
Date1895 ca.
Place MadeGrand Rapids, Michigan, United States, North America
ModelPocket model
Serial No.none
SignedEngraved on bell: MADE BY / J. W. YORK AND SON. / [three hills and lake with sailing boat] / GRAND RAPIDS / MICH.MarkingsStamped on valve casings, caps and pistons, respectively: 31, 32, 33
DescriptionSilver-plated brass, gold-plated valve caps, finger buttons and water key, main tuning slide at second bow, removable leadpipe, three Périnet valves (1, ½, 1½), top-sprung, spring inside hollow stem, alignment by three unequal lugs on spring anchor plate, brass pistons, water key at first bow, windway 3-2-1
E-flat brass shank, apparently soldered to the instrument (later change).
Dating results from the company name given in the signature, J. W. York and Son. “Son” recognizes York’s infant son Charles E., who was born in 1887, but not yet his second son Frank W., born in 1898 (then firming as York and Sons). Early York instruments have no serial number, precise dating is therefore not possible.
DimensionsHeight: 260 mm
Tube length: 908 mm, 959 mm
Bore diameter (tuning slide, valve slides): 11.7 mm, 11.7 mm (0.46 inches)
Bore diameter (shank, initial, minimum): 9.2 mm, 8.9 mm
Bell diameter: 109 mm
ProvenancePurchased 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. 173-74, 176, 288.
Credit LineJoe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999
Object number06954
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