Clarinet
ca.1826 to ca. 1835 (Made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Richard Bilton, the maker of this instrument, traded from Westminster Bridge Street, London, between 1826 and 1856. The invention of the clarinet is often assigned to Johann Christoph Denner (1655-1707) of Nuremberg, but the first recorded instruments were actually made by his son, Jacob, in 1710. The earliest versions were pitched at C or D, but after about 1770 they were mostly pitched at B flat, like this example. By this time, the clarinet was widely played throughout Europe and featured prominently in the music of W.A.Mozart (1756-1791).
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Turned and drilled boxwood joints; turned ivory mounts; turned ebony mouth piece; brass keys. |
| Brief description | Boxwood with ivory mounts, by R.J.Bilton, English, about 1826-35. |
| Physical description | 'Boxwood, in four joints, ivory mounted. Ebony mouthpiece, with long tenon which meets the tenon of the upper joint inside the barrel. Fourteen round brass keys, mounted on blocks in the wood save for four which are mounted on brass saddles, namely on the upper joint the keys for E flat, F, and A flat, and on the lower joint the side F sharp key. A plain fingerhole for low F. Pitch of instrument: B flat'. - Anthony Baines:Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard instruments (London, 1998), p. 100. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Given to the Museum by J.Weylandt, Esq. |
| Object history | This imstrument was given to this Museum by J.Weylandt, Esq. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | Richard Bilton, the maker of this instrument, traded from Westminster Bridge Street, London, between 1826 and 1856. The invention of the clarinet is often assigned to Johann Christoph Denner (1655-1707) of Nuremberg, but the first recorded instruments were actually made by his son, Jacob, in 1710. The earliest versions were pitched at C or D, but after about 1770 they were mostly pitched at B flat, like this example. By this time, the clarinet was widely played throughout Europe and featured prominently in the music of W.A.Mozart (1756-1791). |
| Bibliographic reference | Anthony Baines: Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard instruments. (London, 1998), p. 100. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | W.22-1961 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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