Germany
Christian Gottieb Zencker  (1786-1848)

Boxwood, bone, brass, ebony
ca. 1830s-1840s
Length (‘D’): 20.25 in 
Wind Instruments – Woodwind Instruments – Single Reed

Engraved on each piece: ” (crown) / G: ZENCKER  / iun: / D ” identifying the maker as the younger (‘junior’) of the brothers G(ottlob) and G(ottlieb), from Adorf, a small town and district in the Vogtland to the southwest of the Free State of Saxony, Germany. 

This 5-key clarinet with the maker’s mark and the key of ‘D,’ has its original grenadilla wood mouthpiece, five brass keys with flat, square key covers, and springs attached to keys mounted in blocks.  The ‘D’ clarinet is a few inches shorter than the ‘C’ clarinet.  It did not enjoy the same success as the ‘C’ or ‘Bb’ clarinet, which may be due to the lack of literature and that it sounded much like the ‘Bb’ clarinet.  German composers who did write for the ‘D’ clarinet include Wagner and Mahler, and Strauss even calls for it in his famous “Till Eulenspiegel.”

This clarinet comes in five pieces. A rare find with this ‘D’ 5-keyed clarinet is an original exchangeable upper and lower joint that makes this clarinet in the key of ‘Eb.’ The connecting segments are made of dark stained bone, lined with red string to secure connections when the instrument is assembled.