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E-flat Contrabass: Museum Object and Cultural History

E-flat Contrabass: date made: 1878 - 1882. Object Name: tuba. Physical Description: brass (overall material).

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The object in the museum catalogue

This contrabass was made around 1878 to 1882 and sold by the J. Howard Foote Company in New York and Chicago. It is an E-flat contrabass horn, bell upright, made of brass with 3 light piston valves. This instrument has an engraved medallion:

Brass instruments bearing the medallion of J. Howard Foote were likely made for him by the firm of John Stratton or other factories in New York City.

John Howard Foote (1833-1896) was a musical instrument dealer with shops in New York City and Chicago. This instrument was sold as a contrabass or bombardon (#5086 ½).

Materials, dates and provenance

  • date made: 1878 - 1882
  • Object Name: tuba
  • Physical Description: brass (overall material)
  • Physical Description: gold plate (finger buttons material)
  • Measurements: overall: 34 7/16 in x 16 1/4 in x 11 1/2 in; 87.47125 cm x 41.275 cm x 29.21 cm
  • place made: United States: New York, New York
  • ID Number: MI.055613
  • accession number: 11535
  • catalog number: 55613
  • Credit Line: Gift of J. Howard Foote
  • 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.

Sources

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