Eb Pocket Cornet by Henry Lehnert

Henry Lehnert emigrated to the US from Saxony like many others that worked in the musical instrument manufacturing trade although his home town of Freiburg was not at all close to the large centers for these trades.  It is not known if he and his brother Carl had previous experience when they arrived in Boston in 1860.  It is thought that they worked in the shops of Graves and Wright before they formed a partnership with B.F. Richardson in 1865.  Henry moved to Philadelphia in 1867, while Carl continued with Richardson for at least ten more years.  

This cornet was likely made in the early 1870s since it seems unlikely that Lehnert would have continued making Allen valves, such as these, for very many years since rotary valves were quickly falling out of fashion.  He did, however, continue making rotary valve instruments of all sizes until after the 1976 Centennial Exhibition where he introduced his new "Centennial Model" instruments with rotary valves.  This was a family of rotary valve brass instruments, all of which had the bell facing forward.  The tenor, baritone and basses were distinct in that they rested on the shoulders of the player with his head in the middle of the main tubing.  

Henry Lehnert continued manufacturing high quality brass instruments in Philadelphia until 1916, the year that he died.  Most of these historical facts come from William Waterhouse, "The New Langwill Index", Tony Bingham, 1993.

This Eb pocket cornet is remarkably well preserved, showing very little wear, and couldn't possibly have seen much use.  The removable tuning mouthpipe shank and mouthpiece are original as is a satchel style case, not shown.  With the mouthpipe shank removed it is 8 1/8" long and the bell rim diameter is only 3 13/16".  The bore measures .426".  In the last photo, it is standing next to a contemporary Lehnert Eb cornet of more typical dimensions.