Eisele Bass Drum
Eisele Bass Drum
- Description
-
This bass drum was made by Henry Eisele in New York, New York, around 1890-1900. It has a dark-stained wood shell with a painted eagle below the vent hole. There are two painted wood hoops with 12 metal tensioning rods, and skin heads. There is a printed label inside the shell that is inscribed:
-
HENRY EISELE
SUCCESSOR TO WILLIAM SEMPF
MANUFACTUROR OF BASS AND SNARE DRUMS
209 & 211 GRAND STREET, NEW YORK
N.B. Drum heads, sticks, cords and etc. Constantly on hand. -
This drum was used by William T. Armstrong (1879-1965), orchestra leader and musician in vaudeville and silent film theaters. Armstrong grew up in South River, New Jersey and began playing drums at the age of 14. He continued his musical career through the mid-1910s, after which, Armstrong began work in banking and finance. This artifact is part of a collection of drums, sound effect instruments, and other percussion instruments used by Armstrong.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- drum
- date made
- 1890-1900
- place made
- United States: New York, New York City
- Physical Description
- wood (overall material)
- metal (overall material)
- ID Number
- 1984.0335.01
- accession number
- 1984.0335
- catalog number
- 1984.0335.01
- Credit Line
- Gift of Pamela A. Carlin and Evelyn A. Mark in memory of William T. Armstrong
- See more items in
- Culture and the Arts: Musical Instruments
- Music & Musical Instruments
- Popular Entertainment
- Percussion
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.
If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.
Note: Comment submission is temporarily unavailable while we make improvements to the site. We apologize for the interruption. If you have a question relating to the museum's collections, please first check our Collections FAQ. If you require a personal response, please use our Contact page.
