Valve Trumpet in C
1870–80
Medium
Brass, nickel-silver
Dimensions
6 5/16 × 4 15/16 × 16 15/16 in. (16 × 12.5 × 43 cm) Diameter (Of bell): 4 15/16 in. (12.5 cm)
Classification
Aerophone-Lip Vibrated
Culture
Austrian
Department
Musical Instruments
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Irving S. and Cele Laken, 1978
Accession Number
1978.553
Art Historical Context
This elegant valve trumpet in C, crafted by the Austrian maker Leopold Uhlmann between 1870 and 1880, exemplifies the refined craftsmanship of 19th-century Viennese instrument making. Fashioned from brass with nickel-silver fittings, the instrument measures just over 16 inches in length, with a bell diameter of nearly 5 inches. Its compact form and precise valve mechanism reflect the technical advances that transformed brass playing during the Romantic era, allowing musicians greater flexibility and chromatic range compared to earlier natural trumpets. As an aerophone classified under lip-vib...