Riley 5-Keyed Clarinet: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This clarinet was made by Edward Riley in New York, New York about 1825. It is a 5-keyd clarinet in C, made of boxwood with square brass keys. This clarinet has the following stamps:

Edward Riley (1769-1829) was a music teacher, music publisher, and musical instrument seller. Instruments stamped with his name may have been made by makers John Firth and William Hall.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: ca 1825
• maker: Riley, Sr., Edward
• Object Name: clarinet
• Physical Description: boxwood (overall material)
• Physical Description: brass (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 20 3/4 in x 2 5/8 in; 52.705 cm x 6.6675 cm
• Measurements: barrel: 2 1/8 in x 1 3/8 in; 5.3975 cm x 3.4925 cm
• Measurements: upper joint: 7 3/4 in x 1 7/8 in; 19.685 cm x 4.7625 cm
• Measurements: lower joint: 8 7/8 in x 2 1/16 in; 22.5425 cm x 5.23875 cm
• Measurements: bell: 4 1/4 in x 2 3/4 in; 10.795 cm x 6.985 cm
• place made: United States: New York, New York
• ID Number: MI.76.20
• accession number: 323573
• catalog number: 76.20
• 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.