Whiteley 5-keyed Clarinet: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This clarinet was made by William Whiteley in Utica, New York around 1829 to 1831. It is a 5-keyed clarinet in C, made of boxwood with ivory ferrules and square brass keys. This clarinet is stamped:

William Whiteley (1789-1871) made wind instruments in Utica from 1810 to 1853. He is also known for his wind instrument instruction book, The Instrumental Preceptor: comprising instructions for the clarinet, hautboy, flute and bassoon: with a variety of the most celebrated airs, marches, minuets, songs, rondeaus, trios, &c., published by Seward &Williams in 1816.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date made: 1829-1831
• maker: Whiteley, William
• Object Name: clarinet
• Physical Description: boxwood (overall material)
• Physical Description: ivory (overall material)
• Physical Description: brass (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 21 in x 3 1/2 in; 53.34 cm x 8.89 cm
• Measurements: barrel: 2 5/16 in x 1 3/8 in; 5.87375 cm x 3.4925 cm
• Measurements: upper joint: 7 7/8 in x 1 3/4 in; 20.0025 cm x 4.445 cm
• Measurements: lower joint: 9 1/2 in x 1 3/4 in; 24.13 cm x 4.445 cm
• Measurements: bell: 4 in x 3 7/16 in; 10.16 cm x 8.73125 cm
• place made: United States: New York, Utica
• ID Number: MI.65.0729
• accession number: 257490
• catalog number: 65.0729
• Credit Line: Gift of Mr. & Mrs. Robert Goshorn and Mr. & Mrs. William Barbour
• 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.