Unknown Woodwind

[Imgpop]

Hello!
I am a Horn player, and know little about woodwinds.
My wife recently acquired the instrument in these pictures at an estate auction.
It is 19.5 inches long, has 7 holes (6 on top, one below) and 6 keys. It is conical. The mouthpiece receiver looks like one for a double reed, but it had a small single reed mouthpiece attached. An oboeist in my band believes it is a clarinet, my band director says it’s an early oboe.
Any thoughts/opinions/suggestions would be appreciated!
Thanks…

 

[Tony Fairbridge]

I've read of oboes being played with single-reed mouthpieces, and I remember sometime in antiquity reading of a company in the UK who offered such a mouthpiece. This may be one such.

 

[Tony Fairbridge]

See

The Clarinet BBoard

test.woodwind.org

 

[Imgpop]

See

The Clarinet BBoard

test.woodwind.org

Tony,
Thanks for the link confirming the existence of a single reed mouthpiece for oboe.
Now if I can just find out more about the instrument mine is connected to!
Thanks again…

 

[pete]

I think it's probably a modern "reproduction" shawm. Reasoning:

* Similar looking bells; oboe bell shape has been about the same for hundreds of years.
* The "Germany" stamp looks too modern-ish, as in from the past 121 years or so. If we're talking a couple centuries old, the stamp would be much "messier" and probably say something like "Deutschland" or Austria or any one of the zillion principalities in and around what we now call Germany.
* The mounts and springs look wrong for an oboe that's more than 150 years old. The Boehm keyed oboe came out in the 1840s.

It's the wrong shape for a recorder .

I know of the single reed adapter for double reed instruments from the Saxoboe (and similar) and the Sarrusophone. It's an interesting thing to find.

Hopefully you'll get someone that says, "I have the exact same instrument! It's a ..." or similar. I'd recommend e-mailing or browsing the International Double Reed Society.

 

[Imgpop]

I think it's probably a modern "reproduction" shawm. Reasoning:

* Similar looking bells; oboe bell shape has been about the same for hundreds of years.
* The "Germany" stamp looks too modern-ish, as in from the past 121 years or so. If we're talking a couple centuries old, the stamp would be much "messier" and probably say something like "Deutschland" or Austria or any one of the zillion principalities in and around what we now call Germany.
* The mounts and springs look wrong for an oboe that's more than 150 years old. The Boehm keyed oboe came out in the 1840s.

It's the wrong shape for a recorder .

I know of the single reed adapter for double reed instruments from the Saxoboe (and similar) and the Sarrusophone. It's an interesting thing to find.

Hopefully you'll get someone that says, "I have the exact same instrument! It's a ..." or similar. I'd recommend e-mailing or browsing the International Double Reed Society.

Pete,
Thanks so much for your input!
I thought the same reason the “Germany”stamp. In my readings it seems there were several configurations during the evolution of (especially) woodwind instruments.
if this is a replica, I hope at some point to find exactly what it is a replica of!
Thanks again…

 

[JDbassplayer]

Normally I just browse here, but I've seen these before so I've made an account to comment. This is a musette, a member of the oboe family. They are also sometimes called parlor oboes or piccolo oboes, though the latter name is usually reserved for more advanced instruments. These usually, but not always as in this case, have bulbous bells. The reason there are so few keys is because these were seen more as "casual" instruments and have very little written for them. They aren't too uncommon but are a neat collector's item. They were most popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

As stated above the mouthpiece is separate and is designed for oboes. Musettes do use the same staples as oboes so I suppose it could be used, but intonation may not be great. They normally use piccolo clarinet reeds if you want to try it.

 

[pete]

Definitely looks similar: https://www.catawiki.com/en/l/33636831-unknown-rare-musette-piccolo-oboe-oboe-musette-germany-1900