William Hall & Son 5-Keyed Clarinet: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This clarinet was made by William Hall & Son in New York, New York around 1848 to 1875. It is a 5-keyed clarinet in C, made of boxwood with flat, round brass keys. This clarinet is stamped:

William Hall (1796-1874) began his career as a musical instrument maker’s apprentice and by 1812 was employed by musical instrument maker Edward Riley. Hall formed his own business at Wooster Street in New York in 1820 and at the same time formed a partnership with fellow musical instrument maker, John Firth. By 1832, Hall and Firth were joined by Sylvanus Pond as Firth, Hall & Pond and became a prominent firm of music publishers, manufacturer of woodwinds, pianos, and guitars, and importer of musical goods. After the firm was dissolved in 1847, William Hall & Son continued separately until their company was acquired by Oliver Ditson in 1875.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1848-1875
• maker: William Hall & Son
• Object Name: clarinet
• Physical Description: boxwood (overall material)
• Physical Description: brass (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 21 in x 2 7/8 in; 53.34 cm x 7.3025 cm
• Measurements: mouthpiece: 3 13/16 in x 1 in; 9.68375 cm x 2.54 cm
• Measurements: barrel: 2 1/8 in x 1 1/4 in; 5.3975 cm x 3.175 cm
• Measurements: upper/middle joint: 11 11/16 in x 1 1/2 in; 29.68625 cm x 3.81 cm
• Measurements: lower joint: 9 in x 1 5/8 in; 22.86 cm x 4.1275 cm
• Measurements: bell: 4 3/16 in x 2 7/8 in; 10.63625 cm x 7.3025 cm
• place made: United States: New York, New York
• ID Number: MI.75.46
• accession number: 322695
• catalog number: 75.46
• 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.