Tenor oboe, pear wood, by Cahusac, English, 1790-1800.

"Stained wood, possibly pear, in two joints, the lower joint ivory mounted. Angled brass crook, and two square brass keys, both keys having a single curved touch.. The fingerholes and sized and slanted as in 23/5 [i.e. a "tenor oboe by Thomas Stanesby junior, Museum no. 291-1882) - "The finger-holes of the upper joint are very much narrower than those of the lower joint, and many of the holes are bored to slant upwards and downwards along the axis of the instrument" - Baines, p. 97]. Anthony Baines: Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard instruments(London, 1998), p. 98.

This instrument was purchased by the Museum for £1 in 1882. It had been part of the collections of Carl Engel (1818-1882), an eminent musicologist from Hanover, who published the Descriptive Catalogue of the Musical Instruments in the South Kensington Museum in 1874. The South Kensington Museum has been known as the Victoria & Albert Museum since 1899.

The instrument is signed 'Cahusac' and could have have been made by Thomas Cahusac Senior (d. 1798) or his sons Thomas and William.

Tenor oboes are pitched 4 or 5 notes below the treble (or standard) oboe, and were mostly played in royal processions and military marches during the 18th century. The crook-like mouthpiece made this long instrument less unwieldy to play. This example was made by the Cahusac family, which made high quality wind instruments in London from 1755, when Thomas Cahusac the elder founded the firm, until 1814 when his son, William, retired.

297-1882