Germany
Julius Rudolf of Gotha

Brass and partly nickel-plated
ca. 1924
Height: 21 in
Wind Instruments – Brasswinds – Trumpets

No makers name – Serial number 8333

A normaphon(e) possibly from the shop of Julius Rudolf  (1844-1900) of Gotha.   In 1872, musician and instrument maker Julius Rudolph founded a musical instrument shop and workshop at Gretengasse 24 in Gotha.  He built brass, woodwind and string instruments. This normaphone was possibly made around 1924 (son, Gotthard Rudolph, proprietor).  It has three rotary valves and a mouthpiece. 

The normaphone was invented by the Markneukirchen instrument maker Richard Oskar Heber (1872-1938) and manufactured and marketed in the Vogtland region of Saxony through musical instrument dealers based there.  Today, both the normaphone and jazzophone (also found in this collection) are almost forgotten instruments.  While they are considered brass instruments that require the buzzing of the lips to produce a sound, they are constructed in the shape of a saxophone.  Saxophone-shaped instruments were fashionable instruments of the 1920s and 1930s and the normaphone and jazzophone were occasionally used in jazz bands.

Resource: https://brasspedia.com/index.php?title=Normaphone