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Pocket cornet, B-flat

Distributor Pask & Koenig

Makerattributed Besson

Date1850 ca.

Place MadeParis, France, Europe

Place DistributedLondon, England, Europe

Serial No.2909

SignedStamped on bell: [British Royal coat of arms with crown, lion and unicorn] / PASK & KŒNIG / MAKERS / LONDON / 2909
MarkingsUpper valve cases and pistons stamped “7”(first valve), “8” (second valve) and “36” (third valve).
DescriptionBrass, German silver, triple loop, tuning slide at second bow, fixed leadpipe, three Stölzel valves (1, ½, 1½), screw alignment.

Black wooden case with brass fittings; brass cornet mouthpiece (contemporary with the instrument).

Pask & Koenig were most likely dealers, and the instrument may have been made by Besson in Paris. The firm Pask & Koenig existed between 1849 and 1851, and Besson operated a London branch at Pasks's address in the late 1840s. The famous cornetist Herman Kœnig toured the United States with the Louis Jullien orchestra in 1853, by which time his involvement in the firm had ceased.
DimensionsHeight: 219 mm
Tube length: 1325 mm
Bore diameter (initial, minimum, tuning slide, valve slide): 9.7 mm, 8.8 mm, 10.8 mm, 11.4 mm
Bell diameter: 97 mm
ProvenancePurchased in 1998 from Tony Bingham, London, England.
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. 179.

Sabine Katharina Klaus, Trumpets and Other High Brass: A History Inspired by the Joe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection. Volume 3: Valves Evolve (Vermillion, SD: National Music Museum, 2017), pp. 48-50, 54-55, 297.

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

Object number07308

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