Buffet-Crampon 13-Keyed Clarinet: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This clarinet was made by Buffet-Crampon & Cie in Paris, France in 1893. It is a 16-keyed clarinet in A, serial #1H84, made of granadilla with nickel silver ferrules and keys. This clarinet is stamped:

[lyre] BUFFET Crampon & Cie. A PARIS MADE FOR WILLIAMS TORONTO MADE IN FRANCE LP

This clarinet was made for and sold by the R. S. Williams & Sons music company in Toronto, Canada. The company was formed by Richard Sugden Williams (1834-1906) around 1855. It remained as a store-front business until the mid-20th century and as a warehouse-type operation until the early 1950s.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1893
• maker: Buffet-Crampon & Cie.
• Object Name: clarinet
• Physical Description: grenadilla (overall material)
• Physical Description: nickel silver (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 24 1/4 in x 3 1/8 in; 61.595 cm x 7.9375 cm
• Measurements: cap: 2 1/2 in x 1 1/4 in; 6.35 cm x 3.175 cm
• Measurements: mouthpiece: 3 1/4 in x 1 3/8 in; 8.255 cm x 3.4925 cm
• Measurements: barrel/upper joint: 10 3/4 in x 1 13/16 in; 27.305 cm x 4.60375 cm
• Measurements: bell: 4 3/16 in x 3 3/16 in; 10.63625 cm x 8.09625 cm
• Measurements: music lyre: 1 in x 2 3/16 in x 6 3/4 in; 2.54 cm x 5.55625 cm x 17.145 cm
• place made: France: Île-de-France, Paris
• ID Number: MI.75.48
• accession number: 316379
• catalog number: 75.48
• Credit Line: Gift of Lt. Col. Benjamin T. Layton
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.