|
Date: |
|
Description: | The slide trumpet was popular in Britain in the 19th century. The slide projects out of the back of the instrument and is pulled back with two fingers using the spring loaded central rod. The earliest slide trumpets used clock springs for this return mechanism, apparently because Richard Woodham, the first man to make the instrument was a watchmaker by training. However, these required large circular casings, fitted between the two yards in a figure-of-eight formation. This 'Prototype' model was one of a number of designs to appear in the 1880s, which did away with the clock springs in favour of a helical metal spring or an elastic cord inside the tube of the central slide.
Slide trumpet, 'Prototype' model. The tubing is of brass. The slide on back branch with handle and return mechanism is mounted centrally on three stays. The elastic cord is housed within the central sliding assembly with the finger pull and screw tensioner at the distal end. Tuning slide on front branch has one stay and is angled slightly outwards to avoid the bell.The sections of tubing beneath the sliding sleeves are nickel-silver plated, a feature of the trombone, There is a three-lobed knop on the bell stem. With five crooks and a silver plated mouthpiece. '50 MEDALS OF HONOUR FB "Prototype"' engraved/stamped on the bell and mouthpiece.
The addition of an automatic slide return device operated by a double clock-spring mechanism in the late 18th century made the slide trumpet a feasible virtuoso instrument. | Publisher: | http://www.horniman.ac.uk/ | Subjects: | metal lacquer trumpets slide trumpets copper alloy | Source: | Horniman Museum | Identifier: | oai:oai.horniman.ac.uk:object-1976 |
|
|