|
|
|
| Home | Collections | Calendar | Gift Shop | FAQ | Site Index | Maker Index |
|
 |
NMM 8206. Typotone (tuning device) by Pinsonnat, Amiens, France, ca. 1830. Mother-of-pearl plate; gold reed; two gold rivets. The maker's name and serial number (64) are inscribed on the front of the plate; the gold reed is hallmarked with the letter, P, inside a diamond. Original case. Length: 29.7 mm; width: 16.6 mm; height: 2.8 mm. Alan G. Bates Collection, 20002. |
The Typotone, patented by Pinsonnat of Amiens on January 17, 1829, was approved for use by the Conservatoire de Musique, Paris, as a tuning device constructed to sound the pitch, A=441 vps. A freely vibrating reed, made of hallmarked gold, is attached to an opening in the center of a tiny, mother-of-pearl plate, about the size of a postage stamp. Deep grooves cut into the long sides of the mother-of-pearl plate enable a player to hold the device securely between the teeth. Merely breathing over the free reed sets it into vibration, freeing the player's hands to tune a violin or viola. The original, leather covered box also survives, with TYPOTONE stamped in gold across its red cover.
Lit.: Margaret Downie Banks, "From the Four Winds . . . A Rare Triple Ĉolina and a Typotone Both Added to the Alan G. Bates Collection," National Music Museum Newsletter 30, No. 3 (August 2003), pp. 4-5. Reprinted in The Trumpet Call (A Publication of Harmonica Collectors International) 5, Issue 3 (September 2003): 4-5.
Click arrow to continue Bates Gallery Tour