Oboe by Jakob Friedrich Grundmann, Dresden, 1784

Built of boxwood with ivory rings, the oboe is stamped with the crossed swords of Saxony. Grundmann was the most respected Continental oboe maker of his day. Early-eighteenth-century oboes often had three keys, the one for the right little finger being doubled for the left hand, as well, since the tradition of playing woodwind instruments with the right hand below the left was not yet standardized and the key had to be available for those who wanted to play with the left hand below the right. This instrument, originally built with two silver keys, typical of oboes built during the second half of the 18th century, was later "modernized" for early-nineteenth-century use by adding another eight keys. Such an adaptation was always a tribute to an instrument's enduring high quality.

NMM 3996.  Oboe by Jakob Friedrich Grundmann, Dresden, 1784. Stamped on upper joint: [Saxon swords] / GRUNDMANN / 2; stamped on middle joint: [Saxon swords] / GRUNDMANN; stamped on bell: [Saxon swords] / GRUNDMANN / DRESDEN / 1784. Boxwood, ivory ferrules. Originally a two-keyed instrument; eight silver keys added, probably early in the 19th century. SATK. Length 559 mm. Ex coll.:  Marco Tiella, Rovereto, Italy, who found it an an open-air market in Genoa in the mid-1950s. Board of Trustees, 1986.

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