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Alto saxophone
Adolphe Sax (French (born in Belgium), 1814–1894)
about 1848
Object Place: Paris, France
Medium/Technique
Brass
Dimensions
Approximate length of air column 105 cm (41 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
Leslie Lindsey Mason Collection
Accession Number17.1889
CollectionsEurope, Musical Instruments
ClassificationsMusical instruments – Aerophones
DescriptionAlto in E-flat. Conoidal tube of brass with downward bent mouth-pipe and upturned bell; detachable mouthpiece. Eighteen tone-holes of various diameters covered by keys with chamois pads. Two independent octave keys.
InscriptionsEngraved on bell: Adolphe Sax & Cie. a Paris. 5828
ProvenanceFrancis W. Galpin (1858-1945), Hatfield Regis, England; 1916, sold by Francis W. Galpin to William Lindsey (1858-1922), Boston, Massachusetts; 1916, gift of William Lindsey, in memory of his daughter, Leslie Lindsey Mason, to the MFA. (Accession Date: October 5, 1916)
Fantaisie sur il pleut bergère, about 1873
Composed by Paul Agricole Génin
Performed by Peter H. Bloom on an alto saxophone, made by Adolphe Sax, Paris, about 1860, from the Marlowe Sigal Collection