Pair of Timpani, France or Saxony, ca. 1890 Click on any image to see an enlargement NMM 1266 a & b.  Pair of timpani, France or Saxony, ca. 1890. One-piece bowls hammered from sheets of brass. Animal skin heads tucked around flesh hoop, using counter hoops for tension. Seven t-handles each (invented in France ca. 1790). Three-footed, iron stands. Instruments such as these were imported by American distributors such as H. C. Barnes, Carl Fischer, and Lyon and Healy.  Arne B. Larson Collection, 1979. Measurements   Smaller Drum Larger Drum Diameter of Head ≈ 60.5 cm ≈ 65.5 cm Bowl Depth ≈ 32.5 cm ≈ 38 cm Tuning Handle Lit.:  Edmund A. Bowles. The Timpani:  A History in Pictures and Documents. Hillsdale, NY:  Pendragon Press, 2002.  Page 278. Jayson Dobney, "Historic Timpani at the National Music Museum," Percussive Notes 45, No. 2 (April 2007): cover and 15-16. Return to Checklist of Timpani Made Before 1900 National Music Museum The University of South Dakota 414 East Clark Street Vermillion, SD 57069 ©National Music Museum, 2006-2007 Most recent update: October 22, 2007 You are the 2,190th visitor to this page since October 6, 2006 The University of South Dakota Return to Top of Page