Kies Basset Horn: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This basset horn was made by Wolfgang Kies (Küss) in Vienna, Austria around 1818 to 1822. It is a 10-keyed basset horn in F, made of boxwood with ivory ferrules and has square brass keys and a brass bell. This basset horn is stamped:

This basset horn was acquired from the collection of Leopoldo Franciolini in 1892. Leopoldo Franciolini (1844–1920) was an Italian antique dealer who flourished in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is remembered as a fraudster who sold faked and altered historical musical instruments.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1818 - 1822
• maker: Kies, W.
• Object Name: basset horn
• Physical Description: boxwood (overall material)
• Physical Description: ivory (overall material)
• Physical Description: brass (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 36 in x 4 3/4 in x 5 1/2 in x 1 in; 91.44 cm x 12.065 cm x 13.97 cm x 2.54 cm
• Measurements: barrel: 2 1/2 in x 1 1/4 in x 1 3/4 in; 6.35 cm x 3.175 cm x 4.445 cm
• Measurements: joint: 4 1/4 in x 1 3/8 in; 10.795 cm x 3.4925 cm
• Measurements: joint: 10 3/8 in x 1 3/4 in; 26.3525 cm x 4.445 cm
• Measurements: joint: 6 1/4 in x 1 5/8 in; 15.875 cm x 4.1275 cm
• place made: Austria: Vienna state, Vienna
• ID Number: MI.095295
• accession number: 26256
• catalog number: 95295
• 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.