“OFFICER’S BUGLE” BY JOHN H. FOOTE, NEW YORK

“OFFICER’S BUGLE” BY JOHN H. FOOTE, NEW YORK

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$495.00 ON HOLD

Quantity Available: 1

Item Code: 380-67

This double-coil brass bugle clearly marked on the upper surface of the bell, “J HOWARD FOOTE / NEW YORK,” stands 10-1/4” tall, has a mouthpiece in place, and carries the remnants of a sky-blue braided infantry bugle cord. The horn is untouched and unrestored, having a number of dings and dents, but no tears or holes, and with a slight downward bend to the ferrule holding the mouthpiece, which shows some corrosion. The patina is untouched, showing age, with some slightly lighter tone to the bell and lower stretches of the tubes from handling, etc. On the subject of Civil War bugles we recommend Chris Nelson’s article in NST Civil War Vol. 29 No. 4, 2003. The height of this horn places it in his category of non-regulation “officers’ bugles,” which show up in the 10” to 12” range. See Nelson’s Figure 10 for a German silver example.

Bazelon’s Directory, Vol. 2, dates Foote’s appearance in the musical instrument business in New York to 1855, when he is listed as a salesman at 31 Maiden Lane, the business address of instrument dealers Rohe and Leavitt, as a clerk there in 1856, and then indicates he is on his own as a dealer in musical instruments from 1857 to 1864, when he went into business with John F. Stratton, the two men buying out and taking over Rohe and Leavitt, and operating as Stratton and Foote at the same location. In fact, that partnership seems to date as early as July 1863 when the two are advertising the new firm in newspapers. In support of Bazelon’s 1857 dating of Foote as an independent dealer, we find him in the 1860 census listed as a “dlr in musical instr.” When the Stratton and Foote partnership ended and Foote was back on his own is unclear: some sources date it to 1865; Bazelon says Stratton withdrew from the business in 1866. Foote went on to open an additional store in Chicago in 1868 and expand the New York operation, the two apparently operating together though incorporated separately after his death in 1896.

In any case, the presence of Foote’s name alone would imply a date prior to mid-1863 or after Stratton’s departure in 1865/66. We see no signs of a lengthwise seam in the tube, necessary for a Civil War date according to Nelson, but we also see no seam connecting the bell to the tubing, a typical later feature patented by C.G. Conn in 1889. The bell has a simple rolled edge rather than a separate “garland” crimped over the edge, but this is not a critical factor in dating. The Smithsonian has a regulation bugle by Stratton and Foote showing a similar rolled edge, and their catalog entry indicates that bugles sold by Foote had in fact been made by Stratton, presumably before their 1863/64 partnership.   [sr][ph:L]

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