Antique 1880's Berthold German Boxwood Bb Clarinet, Length 571.5mm

Description

Wichita Band Instrument Company
Wichita, Kansas
Berthold German Boxwood Clarinet
According to the Grove Music Dictionary Online, The Berthold family made instruments in Speyer, Germany from 1849-1937. Originally the company was founded  by George Jakob Berthold in 1849, however when his two sons jointed his company, the firm re-established itself in 1883 as "Berthold &
Söhne". One of the sons, Johann Wilhelm Berthold, specialized in clarinets. The instrument we are selling is believed to have been made in the 1880s and could well have been made by Johann. The instrument is stamped, much of the words are hard to read as they appear to have been polished out of the years, we can make out: A/[Mark]/*.
This particular instrument is in playing condition. Several years ago, one of our woodwind technicians re-padded the instrument. There was some pinning previously done and the bell still has a little chip out of it, but for an instrument around 140 years old, we think it looks immaculate. We also chose to leave some cosmetic issues alone to leave the instruments as original as possible. The keys are made of brass. The key system is a 14-key German style.
The sounding length of this instrument is 571.5mm. For reference, a modern Bb clarinet tuned to A=440 measures 599mm and a modern A tuned to A=440 measures 633mm.
Office Code: DD