Serpent
1831-1832 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Serpents were mostly played in military bands. They serve as bass conetts (not to be confused with 'cornets', a type of trumpet), they were fitted with bowl-shaped mouthpieces like a brass-instrument and fingerholes like a flute. The musician extended the range of notes available by altering his fingering and repositioning of his lips. This instrument was made by Gerock & Wolf, a London-based company and a large producer of woodwind instruments, especially clarinets and flutes, during the 1830s.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Wood covered with leather tubing, brass mouthpiece and crook, ivory ringed holes |
| Brief description | Serpent, English, wood covered with leather with brass keys and ivory finger-holes, Gerock & Wolf, 1831-1832. |
| Physical description | "Serpentine shape, of wood covered with black leather. The inside of the bell is painted red. Six fingerholes, bushed with ivory. Five round brass keys. Brass crook with right-angled bend, and a brass mouthpiece which is not original." - Anthony Baines: Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard instruments. (London, 1998), p. 104. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | Gerock, Wolf & Co, 79 Cornhill, London (Engraved on the brass tubing immiediately below the mouthpiece.) |
| Gallery label |
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| Object history | This formed part of the collections of Carl Engel and was valued at £1 - 10 - 0, when it was acquired by the South Kensington Museum in 1882. |
| Summary | Serpents were mostly played in military bands. They serve as bass conetts (not to be confused with 'cornets', a type of trumpet), they were fitted with bowl-shaped mouthpieces like a brass-instrument and fingerholes like a flute. The musician extended the range of notes available by altering his fingering and repositioning of his lips. This instrument was made by Gerock & Wolf, a London-based company and a large producer of woodwind instruments, especially clarinets and flutes, during the 1830s. |
| Bibliographic reference | Anthony Baines: Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard instruments. (London, 1998), p. 104. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 286-1882 |
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| Record created | May 16, 2001 |
| Record URL |
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