Bass Saxhorn in B-flat
1858–75
Medium
Brass, nickel-silver
Dimensions
L.: 74.5 cm (29-1/2 in.); Diam. of bell: 22.3 cm (8-7/8 in.)
Classification
Aerophone-Lip Vibrated
Culture
American
Department
Musical Instruments
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889
Accession Number
89.4.2180
Art Historical Context
Step into the brass-laden world of 19th-century American music with this Bass Saxhorn in B-flat, crafted by. I. Seefeldt between 1858 1875. Measuring an impressive 74.5 cm in length with a bell diameter of 22.3 cm, this lip-vibrated aerophone exemplifies the ingenuity of early industrial-era instrument making. Fashioned from gleaming brass and durable nickel-silver, it belongs to the saxhorn family—invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s—which revolutionized brass bands with its conical bore and valved design for smooth, melodic low tones. During the Civil War era and the Gilded Age, instruments...