Alto horn in saxophone shape, E-flat (high/low pitch)
Maker
Roy Cooper
Date1910 ca.
Place MadeElkhart, Indiana, United States, North America
Serial No.11592
SignedEngraved on bell: Roy Cooper / MakerMarkingsStamped on right side of second valve casing: UNION / M.P.B.P. / B.W.U. (within shield) / LABEL
Stamped on left side of second valve casing and valve top caps: 11592
Stamped on valve casings and caps, respectively: 1, 2, 3
DescriptionSilver-plated brass, mother-of-pearl finger buttons, body imitating the shape of a saxophone, detachable bell fixed by wing screw, conical main tuning slide at first bow (alternatives for E-flat or D), three Périnet valves (1, ½, 1½), bottom sprung, alignment by one key on pistons (nickel-silver-plated brass), single water key at main tuning slide, windway 1-2-3.
Main tuning slides for E-flat high and low pitch; silver lyre holder.
Deep, cup-shaped, silver-plated brass mouthpiece stamped: 24
According to a former owner, this alto horn in saxophone shape was made in the Buescher Company in Elkhart, Indiana, for a Vaudeville musician. The serial number indicates a manufacture in 1910 or 1911. This special design predates the normaphone and jazzophone, both trumpets in saxophone shape, by more than a decade. This experimental instrument was not signed by the Buescher Company but by one of the firm's workers, Roy Cooper, who was likely the person charged with making it.
DimensionsHeight: 526 mm
Tube length: 2053 mm/2148 mm
Bore diameter (initial, minimum, tuning slide, valve slides): 11.1 mm, 9.6 mm, 13.5-14.2 mm, 12.27 (0.483 inches)
Bell diameter: 203 mm (8 inches)
ProvenancePurchased in 1998 from Steve Dillon, Woodbridge, New Jersey.
Credit LineJoe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999
Object number07315
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