Cornett thumbnail 1
Cornett thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Not currently on display at the V&A
On display at the Horniman Museum, London

Cornett

ca. 1580 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The cornett was a wind instrument bored with holes like a flute or recorder and fitted with a trumpet-like mouthpiece. The earliest versions were made from hollowed-out cow horns and used by shepherds and watchmen. By about 1250 they were made from hollowed-out ivory tusks or two pieces of wood joined together latitudinally and covered with leather. By about 1580 the best examples are thought to have come from Venice. Between about 1550 and 1650, the cornett enjoyed a prominent part in wind ensembles and was often used for displays of virtuosity . Its tone has been described as a cross between an alto saxophone and a clarinet, but it made great demands on the player. As Roger North (1653 - 1734), a keen amateur musician, observed ' ... the labour on the lips is too great and it is seldom well sounded', which might help explain its decline to obscurity by about 1700.

On loan to the Horniman Museum.


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
Ivory, carved and bored
Brief description
Cornett, carved and bored ivory, possibly Italy, about 1580
Physical description
"Curved form (right hand lowermost). Ivory, the lower part shaped octagonally and the upper part in a diamond pattern, in the manner characteristic for the curved cornett. Six fingerholes and a thumbhole. Mouthpiece missing.". Anthony Baines: Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard insturments. (London, 1998), p. 104.
Dimensions
  • Length: 55.5cm
Object history
This item was bought from M. Baur of Paris for £10 in July 1869.
Production
A. Baines says it is 'possibly Italian'.
Summary
The cornett was a wind instrument bored with holes like a flute or recorder and fitted with a trumpet-like mouthpiece. The earliest versions were made from hollowed-out cow horns and used by shepherds and watchmen. By about 1250 they were made from hollowed-out ivory tusks or two pieces of wood joined together latitudinally and covered with leather. By about 1580 the best examples are thought to have come from Venice. Between about 1550 and 1650, the cornett enjoyed a prominent part in wind ensembles and was often used for displays of virtuosity . Its tone has been described as a cross between an alto saxophone and a clarinet, but it made great demands on the player. As Roger North (1653 - 1734), a keen amateur musician, observed ' ... the labour on the lips is too great and it is seldom well sounded', which might help explain its decline to obscurity by about 1700.

On loan to the Horniman Museum.
Bibliographic reference
Anthony Baines: Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard insturments. (London, 1998), p. 104.
Collection
Accession number
1123-1869

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Record createdDecember 6, 2006
Record URL
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