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Clarinet in B-flat

John Meacham American
ca. 1825
Not on view
John Meacham jr. (born Enfield/CT 2 May 1785; died Albany/NY 8 December 1844) and his younger brother Horace (born Enfield/CT 19 July 1789; died Albany/NY 1861) conducted a joint workshop after 1813. They used the stamp mentioned below between 1813 and 1827. (Waterhouse, NLI, 257)


Overall size: 590
Bore: c-hole 12.8; f-hole 13.7
Conical part: 135

Technical description: Boxwood with ivory ferrules and brass keywork. Six pieces: mouthpiece, barrel, upper section, middle section for the fingers of the right hand and lower section with keys in one piece, bell. Typical English socket-type blackwood mouthpiece with an ivory ferrule, grooved for cord. English tenon-type flask-shaped barrel (replacement). Throat keys in rudiments of turned wooden rings. Thick walls. Pins to strengthen the wood. Levers for L4, tone-hole and key for R4 mounted in a bell-shaped swelling. Guidance for zig-zag F♯3/C♯5. Bevelled G♯3/E♭5.

L0:   T; speaker.
L1:   T; throat A♮.
L2:   T.
L3:   T.
L4:   E3/B♮4; F♯3/C♯5.
R1:   T.
R2:   T.
R3:   T.
R4:   T; G♯3/E♭5.
Keyhead type: flat square
Keymount type: blocks, swelling.
Inscribed on barrel "4 / KEY / LONDON / unicorn head"; on all other pieces "J & H MEACHAM / ALBANY" (very faint); on bell also "B" (later inscription, not a stamp).
Playing accessories: one reed and a string (both not original).
(Heike Fricke, 2014)

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Clarinet in B-flat
  • Maker: Horace Meacham (American, Enfield, Connecticut 1789–1861 Albany, New York)
  • Maker: John Meacham (American, Enfield, Connecticut 1785–1844 Albany, New York)
  • Date: ca. 1825
  • Geography: Albany, New York
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Boxwood, ebony, ivory, brass
  • Dimensions: L. 59 cm (23-1/4 in.)
  • Classification: Aerophone-Reed Vibrated-single reed cylindrical
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1988
  • Object Number: 1988.29
  • Curatorial Department: Musical Instruments

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