bass clarinet in Bb
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Name of Instrument: bass clarinet in Bb
Maker / Brand: Adolphe (Antoine Joseph) Sax (1814-1894)
Stearns Catalog #: 0637
Country of Origin: Brussels, Belgium
Region of Origin: Europe
Instrument Category: Aerophone
Date of Fabrication: ca. 1840
Location: CON B 1
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Description: This instrument comes to the Stearns Collection from a highly questionable source--Leopoldo Franciolini. Many Franciolini instruments are forgeries or interesting hybrids of original instruments and scrap wood; however, this is one of the rare cases in which the attribution of the maker and the instrument itself appear to be legitimate. This is a Bass Clarinet (Simple system) in B Flat made of two stained maple sections with brass ferrules. It has a brass goose neck and bell (replacement; stamped: "[within oval] CH. ROTH / A / STRASBOURG / BREVETE / S.G.D. GI)". It has twenty brass keys of shallow cup type mounted on pillars. There are two speaker keys; the tone holes have brass bushings. The piece is signed on the first and section sections, "* / SAX / A BRUXELLES / *".
Research: Prof. James M. Borders