Oboe, C
Maker
Jeremias Schlegel
Date1752-1765 ca.
Place MadeBasel, Switzerland, Europe
Serial No.none
SignedStamped on all three joints: [device -- possibly a fleur-de-lis] / SCHLEGEL / A: BALE(The device is plainly stamped and not at all worn away, yet it is not distinguishable.)
Bingham calls it a cross. It may be a lion rampant. It may be a moon. It looks as if the die perhaps was badly worn and did not make a clean impression. Küng says it is a cross with dots in each quadrant, but I can’t see it that way.
MarkingsStamped on back of the top baluster: 70
DescriptionBoxwood body in three sections. Three brass keys.
Attribution to Jeremias Schlegel, rather than to his father Christian, is based on the signature, which according to Andreas Küng is specific to Jeremias. Date estimate of about 1752-1765 is based on the earliest date Jeremias was known to be active, and the assumption that this instrument was made relatively early during his career, since a three-keyed oboe would be somewhat old-fashioned by 1750. However, Jeremias was something of a throw-back, since he was still making recorders and chalumeaux in 1765.
DimensionsLength: 587 mm
ProvenancePurchased in 1994 Tony Bingham, London, England.
Published ReferencesRizzello, Marcello. "Thoughts on the External Development of the Oboe in France from 1650 to 1810." _Philomusica on-line_ 22, no. 2 (2023): 98.
Credit LineArne B. and Jeanne F. Larson Fund, 1994
Object number05783
On View
Not on view