| Eb Soprano by George Freemantle |
This very interesting and rare instrument just recently was
offered in a New Hampshire country auction, purchased by a
dealer and immediately offered to John and Rebecca Bieniarz,
to become part of a growing collection of mid-19th century
American brass instruments. It is quite well preserved overall,
with only the major damage to the bell curve, miserable solder
job on the valve section and a few missing parts. Most often
the tuning mouthpipe shank is missing from this sort of
instrument, but in this case, it was jammed in so tight, there
was no possibility that it was going to be lost. The restoration
was mostly straightforward, one of the greatest challenges was
removing the first and second valve cap rings that had been
securely soldered in place by the previous repair. The close up
photo fifth down to the left shows the area that had been
covered by solder. The valves are in excellent condition and it
seems to play as well as the best Graves and other Boston
made sopranos. I'm not presenting this instrument for any
particular challenge in the restoration, but rather to tell the
following story.
There are less than half a dozen brass instruments marked
similarly to this Eb valve bugle and they are all close copies of
those by Graves & Company. From the Boston City
directories we have learned that George Freemantle went to
work in the shop that was shared by E.G. Wright and Graves
& Co. (68 Albany St.) in 1858 when he was about 23 years
old. When Wright moved out of that shop in 1860,
Freemantle stayed with the Graves until they moved out by
1864. During 1864, Freemantle was occupying that address
by himself and was presumably when these instruments were
made. Of the known instruments, this seems to be the only
one that has "(Ag't.)" following his name. I can only speculate
that this is for "agent", causing confusion as to whether he was
claiming to be the maker or the sales agent. In the 1860
census, at the same home address, George Sr. is listed as a
musician and George Jr. as a musical instrument dealer. This
indicates that he was handling the sales end of Graves' and/or
Wright's business. I've only worked on one other Freemantle
instrument, a tuba for Mark Elrod and in both cases, I find
evidence that Freemantle wasn't an accomplished maker.
Certain parts are of the same very high quality and design as
used on Graves instruments, obviously purchased from other
makers, perhaps Graves themselves. Other parts show a lack
of skill. In the tuba, it was mostly in the forming and bending
of the tapered tubes, but not in the fabrication of the bell or
valve section. In this soprano, it is only obvious in the bend of
the bell. Not only is it an uneven curve, but there is an
obvious kink near where it joins with the third valve. This is
never seen in the better makers and I know from experience
that this is not a difficult part to bend neatly. This flaw is
easily seen in the sixth photo to the left. Just as in the tuba,
the lack of skill in forming some parts doesn't seem to hinder
the acoustics of the skilled design.
While gathering information for this write up, I found that
George Freemantle's father is often confused with the son.
1804 is reported in the normally reliable references as the birth
date of the Freemantle that worked for Graves. His actual
birth date is 1835 and both of them were born in England,
emigrating when George Jr. was about three years old. He is
described as a flute and harp player. The father did play these
instruments as well as organ and presumably piano, but I
haven't been able to determine which instruments, if any, that
the son played. A single action harp, awarded a silver medal in
the exhibition of the 1881 Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics
Association was entered by one of these men and a harp
described as from about 1865 is in the collection at the Boston
Museum of Fine Arts. By 1881, George Sr. would have been
76 years old, so it seems fairly certain that this was by the son.
The father seems to have been a financially stable musician
and music teacher paying taxes on real estate valued between
$4000 and $9500, while the son got involved in a number of
businesses and was insolvent at least twice. Also interesting, is
that during his tenure with Graves, Freemantle took a year
away, enlisting in the 47th Massachusetts Regiment
September 1862 until September 1863. This unit was made
up of Boston merchants and they had a band attached, but I
haven't been able to determine if he played in the band. I'm
sure that there is more to be learned about the two Georges
Freemantle.
offered in a New Hampshire country auction, purchased by a
dealer and immediately offered to John and Rebecca Bieniarz,
to become part of a growing collection of mid-19th century
American brass instruments. It is quite well preserved overall,
with only the major damage to the bell curve, miserable solder
job on the valve section and a few missing parts. Most often
the tuning mouthpipe shank is missing from this sort of
instrument, but in this case, it was jammed in so tight, there
was no possibility that it was going to be lost. The restoration
was mostly straightforward, one of the greatest challenges was
removing the first and second valve cap rings that had been
securely soldered in place by the previous repair. The close up
photo fifth down to the left shows the area that had been
covered by solder. The valves are in excellent condition and it
seems to play as well as the best Graves and other Boston
made sopranos. I'm not presenting this instrument for any
particular challenge in the restoration, but rather to tell the
following story.
There are less than half a dozen brass instruments marked
similarly to this Eb valve bugle and they are all close copies of
those by Graves & Company. From the Boston City
directories we have learned that George Freemantle went to
work in the shop that was shared by E.G. Wright and Graves
& Co. (68 Albany St.) in 1858 when he was about 23 years
old. When Wright moved out of that shop in 1860,
Freemantle stayed with the Graves until they moved out by
1864. During 1864, Freemantle was occupying that address
by himself and was presumably when these instruments were
made. Of the known instruments, this seems to be the only
one that has "(Ag't.)" following his name. I can only speculate
that this is for "agent", causing confusion as to whether he was
claiming to be the maker or the sales agent. In the 1860
census, at the same home address, George Sr. is listed as a
musician and George Jr. as a musical instrument dealer. This
indicates that he was handling the sales end of Graves' and/or
Wright's business. I've only worked on one other Freemantle
instrument, a tuba for Mark Elrod and in both cases, I find
evidence that Freemantle wasn't an accomplished maker.
Certain parts are of the same very high quality and design as
used on Graves instruments, obviously purchased from other
makers, perhaps Graves themselves. Other parts show a lack
of skill. In the tuba, it was mostly in the forming and bending
of the tapered tubes, but not in the fabrication of the bell or
valve section. In this soprano, it is only obvious in the bend of
the bell. Not only is it an uneven curve, but there is an
obvious kink near where it joins with the third valve. This is
never seen in the better makers and I know from experience
that this is not a difficult part to bend neatly. This flaw is
easily seen in the sixth photo to the left. Just as in the tuba,
the lack of skill in forming some parts doesn't seem to hinder
the acoustics of the skilled design.
While gathering information for this write up, I found that
George Freemantle's father is often confused with the son.
1804 is reported in the normally reliable references as the birth
date of the Freemantle that worked for Graves. His actual
birth date is 1835 and both of them were born in England,
emigrating when George Jr. was about three years old. He is
described as a flute and harp player. The father did play these
instruments as well as organ and presumably piano, but I
haven't been able to determine which instruments, if any, that
the son played. A single action harp, awarded a silver medal in
the exhibition of the 1881 Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics
Association was entered by one of these men and a harp
described as from about 1865 is in the collection at the Boston
Museum of Fine Arts. By 1881, George Sr. would have been
76 years old, so it seems fairly certain that this was by the son.
The father seems to have been a financially stable musician
and music teacher paying taxes on real estate valued between
$4000 and $9500, while the son got involved in a number of
businesses and was insolvent at least twice. Also interesting, is
that during his tenure with Graves, Freemantle took a year
away, enlisting in the 47th Massachusetts Regiment
September 1862 until September 1863. This unit was made
up of Boston merchants and they had a band attached, but I
haven't been able to determine if he played in the band. I'm
sure that there is more to be learned about the two Georges
Freemantle.
Click on images for larger views.