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Contralto saxhorn, B-flat

Contralto saxhorn, B-flat

Distributor: B. Verdeau
Date: 1868 ca.
Place Made:Paris, France, Europe
Place Distributed:St. Antoine, Gironde, France, Europe
Serial No: none
SignedStamped on bell: [tuning fork] / A.L & C[IE] / B. VERDEAU /… St ANTOINE (Gironde)
MarkingsValve cases stamped in reverse “1” (third valve!), “2” (second valve) and “3” (first valve!).
DescriptionBrass, upright bell, telescopic tuning slide at leadpipe, three Périnet valves (1, ½, 1½), bottom-sprung, alignment by key on piston (nickel-silver), windway 1-2-3

The trade mark with tuning fork and initials A.L. & Cie identifies this instrument as a product of the firm of Lecomte & Cie. in Paris, while B. Verdeau in St. Antoine was the dealer. Lecomte was licensed to build Sax-model brasswinds on January 10, 1860.
DimensionsHeight: 461 mm
Tube length: 1247 mm, 1286 mm
Bore diameter (receiver, valve slides): 10.6 mm, 10.2 mm
Bore diameter (tuning slide, initial, minimum): 11 mm, 9.7 mm
Bell diameter: 165 mm
ProvenancePurchased in 1997 from Tony Bingham, London, England.
Credit Line: Joe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999
Not on view
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. 18-19, 265.

Sabine Klaus. “More Thoughts on the Discipline of Organology,” Historic Brass Society Journal, Vol. 14, 2002, p. 5.
Object number: 07303