Calicchio B-Flat Trumpet: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This trumpet was made by Dominic Calicchio in Los Angeles, California around 1954 to 1956. It is a B-flat trumpet, serial #1520, made of brass with 3 piston valves. This trumpet is engraved:

Dominic Calicchio (1901-1979) was born in Italy and emigrated to the United States in the 1920s. Calicchio learned his trade at the Rudy Muck brass factory in New York and in 1947, moved to California to make trumpets. During his career, Calicchio made almost two thousand trumpets.

In 1973, a documentary The Last Trumpet Maker, featuring the career of Dominic Calicchio, was made by K. H. Dempwolf, S. Marc Tapper, and Donald C. Fergus.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1954-1956
• maker: Calicchio, Dominic
• Object Name: trumpet
• Physical Description: brass (overall material)
• Measurements: trumpet: 4 3/4 in x 5 3/4 in x 19 1/16 in; 12.065 cm x 14.605 cm x 48.41875 cm
• Measurements: mouthpiece: 3 1/2 in x 1 1/16 in; 8.89 cm x 2.69875 cm
• place made: United States: California, Los Angeles
• ID Number: 1986.0798.01
• catalog number: 1986.0798.01
• accession number: 1986.0798
• serial number: 1520
• Credit Line: Gift of Bruce Douglas
• 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.