Serpent Forveille in B-flat

ca. 1825

Not on view

The serpent, a wide bass brass horn with finger holes that evolved at the end of the sixteenth century, gained importance in band music during the second half of the eighteenth century. Thenceforth, the serpent's unwieldy shape was either modified or converted to upright forms. This version, with four keys and six fingerholes, was designed and first publicly displayed in Paris in 1823.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

References

Title: Serpent Forveille in B-flat
Maker: Forveille (French, Paris active 1824–39)
Date: ca. 1825
Geography: Paris, France
Culture: French
Medium: Wood, leather
Dimensions: 110cm (box) x 46cm (box) x 34cm (box)
L. 101 cm., Diameter. of bell +/-17.1 cm.,
Diameter of bore inside reciever 0.429 in.
inside larger end of crook 1.105 in.
inside brass tenon that enters wood tube 1.775 in.
Classification: Aerophone-Lip Vibrated-horn
Credit Line: The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889
Object Number: 89.4.1094
Curatorial Department: Musical Instruments

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