Worcester, Massachusetts
Isaac Fiske

German Silver
1864
Height: 15 in
Wind Instruments – Brasswinds – Cornets

Engraving on bell:  Isaac Fiske Maker Worcester, Mass / Wm C. Little

Circular cornet in Bb with three string rotary valves marked: Isaac Fiske Maker Worcester, Mass. on one side and Wm C. Little (the person it was made for) on the other. Included with the horn were TWO LETTERS in envelopes that were in the case from the Henry N Hooper & Co.(a company that also made Civil War Weapons) to the purchaser William C. Little, stating the bill for the cornet at $84.39 on December 5 , 1864…A serious amount of money in that time. These letters of provenance are the original letters to the purchaser William C. Little and his place of employment, which was the Banking House, Parrott & Co of San Francisco where Mr. Little was the book keeper for John Parrott.   Parrott & Co. was not only a very important early San Francisco Bank, but were partners of Walter B. Comstock, an important figure of the Gold Rush era of San Francisco.

Isaac Fiske established his company in 1842 and sold to G.C. CONN in 1887. CONN continued to manufacture instruments in Worcester, Mass as a branch of the business until 1898. Fiske was noted as an inventor in methods of production for forming tubing and worked to improve valve action and develop clear windways, receiving five US patents.

Reference: Bob Eliason in NGDMI, AMIS
Resource: Waterhouse, William. “The New Langwill Index.” London: Tony Bingham ISBN: 0-946113-04-1