This tuba was made by Stengel, in Bayreuth, Germany, around 1830-1870. It is a contrabass tuba in BB-flat, made of brass with nickel silver trim, in an upright form with missing valve section (originally 3 or 4 mechanical rotary valves). This instrument is inscribed;
Stengel in Bayreuth Deposito Brizzi e Niccolai Firenze
This oboe was made by an unknown maker in Italy, in the 19th century. It is a piffaro oboe, similar to a type of shawm, made of maple, and with 4 fingerholes. The cap and bell sections are decoratively turned. It has a slightly conical bore.
This oboe was acquired from the collection of Leopoldo Franciolini in 1892. Leopoldo Franciolini (1844–1920) was an Italian antique dealer who flourished in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is remembered as a fraudster who sold faked and altered historical musical instruments.
This trumpet was made by Hirsbrunner in Sumiswald, Switzerland around 1800 to 1825. It is a G circular trumpet made of brass with an F crook, lead pipe, and mouthpiece. This compressed trumpet model, known as a stopftrompete, has a tuning slide in the center of the coil similar to a cor d’orchestre of the period.
The Hirsbrunner firm was founded by Christian Hirsbrunner in the late 18th century. The company continued with Hirsbrunner family members and still makes musical instruments to this day.
This set of planchettes was made by an undetermined maker and place, around 1847-1850.
It is tune #466 - dead march. These planchettes were accessioned with Debain player piano (Cat. #236911). They feature English patent #11359 (1846), by Alexander Debain for improvements in keyed musical instruments
This composite violin was made in Germany in the 19th century. The unrelated 19th-century German table, with a 20thcentury neck-graft, pegbox and scroll, was added to the back and ribs to create the complete instrument. This violin bears a reproduction Gagliano label and is made of a table of spruce in two pieces, back of maple in two pieces with irregular, mild horizontal figure, ribs of similar maple cut on the slab, grafted maple neck, pegbox and scroll with fine, irregular figure, and a semi-opaque orange-brown varnish.
This square piano was made by Joshua Done in London, England in 1780. Done was listed in Chancery Lane from 1792 to 1814 and according to the inscription on the nameboard: “Joshua Done, London, 1780” it would seem that this piano was made before Done moved to Chancery Lane. This piano has a compass of FF-f3, an English single action, leather hammers, double-strings throughout, tuning pins on the right, pinblock under the soundboard, 2 hand stops (1 missing): upper and lower dampers, wood frame, and a mahogany case.
This music box disc was made by Regina Music Box Co. in Rahway, New Jersey, around 1901-1902. It is Regina Disc #1993 - "Hiawatha (A Summer Idyl)," by Neil Moret. This disc is playable in a Regina Disc Music Box that can accommodate a 15-1/2” diameter disc.
This disc features the following patents:
U. S. Patent #417649, dated December 17, 1889 by Oskar Paul Lochmann for a music plate for mechanical instruments.
U. S. Patent #500374, dated June 27, 1893 by Gustav A. Brachhausen and Paul Riessner for a note-plate for music boxes.
This cornet was made by the Buescher Band Instrument Co. in Elkhart, Indiana in 1912. It is a B-flat/A cornet, serial #15133, made of silver plated brass, and has 3 Périnet piston valves and a quick change slide. This cornet is accessioned with a period wooden case covered with black leatherette and lined with green plush. The cornet is engraved:
THE Buescher ELKHART -IND.-
Ferdinand August “Gus” Buescher (1861-1937) began his career making instruments with the C.G. Conn Company in 1876. In late 1894, Buescher started his firm, in partnership with clothing merchant John L. Collins and salesman Harry L. Long, and formed the Buescher Manufacturing Company in Elkhart. By 1904, the company name was changed to the Buescher Band Instrument Company.
In 1916, Buescher sold a major share of the company and remained with the company until his resignation in 1929.
This case was made by an unknown maker in the United States, undetermined date. It is made of wood, covered with black stained leather, with metal fittings, leather handle,and plush interior. Case is for flugelhorn MI.066624.
This clarinet was made by Jérome Thibouville-Lamy in Paris, France around 1876 to 1880. It is a 13-keyed clarinet in C, made of grenadilla with German silver ferrules and round keys. It is stamped:
[lyre] J.T.L. JEROME THIBOUVILLE-LAMY PARIS ] 76
Jérome Thibouville (1833 - after 1905) was one of the first in France to recognize the potential of inexpensive mass-produced musical instruments for distribution to the general public. Through his direction, keyboard, string, brass and woodwind instruments, accordions, music boxes and instrument accessories were manufactured in many grades and commercial qualities under the name Thibouville-Lamy. By 1867 he was the sole proprietor of the firm, with musical instrument factories in Grenelle (brass), La Couture (woodwinds), and Mirecourt (strings), that employed a labor force of "about 1000 workmen, women and employees." To avoid confusion in the trade and to distinguish his firm from other instrument makers established under that name, Jérome Thibouville joined his name to Lamy, after his wife, Marguerite Hyacinthe Lamy. In 1891, the firm Jérome Thibouville-Lamy published in New York its first American catalog, featuring specific instruments designed for the U.S. market.
This clarinet was made by Martin Frères in Paris, France around 1878 to 1882. It is a 10-keyed clarinet in A, made of boxwood with German silver ferrules and round keys. This clarinet is stamped:
[bee] MARTIN FRES A PARIS [Martin logo] A
John Howard Foote (1833-1896) was a musical instrument dealer with shops in New York City and Chicago. Martin Frères was one of the many brands sold through his shops. This make and style of clarinet (#5271), or “clarionet,” as listed in an 1880 J. Howard Foote catalog sold for $12.30.
This concertina was made in Germany around 1878 to 1882 and sold by the J. Howard Foote Company in New York and Chicago. It has 10 buttons on each side.
John Howard Foote (1833-1896) was a musical instrument dealer with shops in New York City and Chicago. This instrument listed in an 1880 J. Howard Foote catalog, sold as a German Concertina (#5568), for $7.20.
This flugelhorn was made by Elbridge G. Wright in Boston, Massachusetts, about 1863. It is a presentation flugelhorn in E-flat, made of nickel silver, with 3 string-action side-action rotary valves, and a screw adjusting lead pipe. Accessioned with period case. This instrument is engraved:
Presented by the Members of the 3d Brigade Band3d Div: 9th A.C. TO Wm. Critchley, Jr. LEADER July 4th 1863 Made by E.G. WRIGHT, Boston
The United States National Park Service Civil War database lists William J. Critchley as a principal musician and band leader serving in the Brigade Band (2nd/3rd Brigades, 1st-3rd Divisions, 7th/18th/24th Army Corps).
Elbridge G. Wright (1811-1871) began making musical instruments in Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1839. By 1842, Wright moved to Boston, Massachusetts and made musical instruments under his own name or in partnership until 1869.
This clarinet was made by Martin Frères in Paris, France around 1878 to 1882. It is a 6-keyed clarinet in D, made of boxwood with ivory ferrules and round brass keys. This clarinet is stamped:
[bee] MARTIN FRES A PARIS [Martin logo] D
John Howard Foote (1833-1896) was a musical instrument dealer with shops in New York City and Chicago. Martin Freres was one of the many brands sold through his shops. This make and style of clarinet (#5262), or “clarionet,” as listed in an 1880 J. Howard Foote catalog sold for $6.90.
This snare drum was made by Firth, Pond & Co. in New York, around 1847-1864. It has a light brown shell, two red-painted hoops, two skin heads, 10 metal hooks laced with rope through leather ears used to tighten the hoops, and a gut snare. The paper label inside the shell is inscribed:
[FIRTH] POND & CO., [ ]ers, Manufacturers and Dealers in [Instru]ments, Publishers of Music &c. &c. [B]ROADWAY, NEW Y[ORK]
This case was made by G. Leblanc Corporation in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 1963. It is made of wood, covered with black leatherette, metal trimmings, and plush lined interior. Accessioned with Leblanc contrabass clarinet (MI.63.979).
This Patron badge is from the Los Angeles Classic Jazz Festival, in 1994. The button is a made of speckled gold paper with black lettering covered with a clear film, on a round two-piece metal button with a pin back. There is a black ribbon attached to the back of the button. The button is printed:
LOS ANGELES CLASSIC JAZZ FLOYD LEVIN FESTIVAL 1994
(the ribbon is printed):
PATRON
Floyd Levin (1922-2007) was a Los Angeles textile manufacturer who turned his passion for jazz into a second career as an influential jazz journalist and historian. His numerous reviews, profiles, and articles were published in magazines such as Down Beat, Jazz Journal International, Metronome, and American Rag. He also authored Classic Jazz: A Personal View of the Music and the Musicians. Items in this collection (2011.3086) were acquired from Levin’s attendance at Jazz Festivals, conferences, and other music events.