Austrian Plumbing

A man of pride.
That's the person I see in this photograph.
It's in his self-confident stance with one arm akimbo.
It's in his simple but crisp uniform complete with medals.
It's definitely in his tall bowler hat worn with a jaunty tilt.
And if you look close, it's in the three signet rings on his right hand
that steadies the bell of his great brass instrument,

the helicon.

My estimate is that this proud helicon player posed for his photograph sometime between 1865 to 1875. The photographer of this small carte de visite was J. A. Sequardt, printed on the lower border. On the back is the photographer's elaborate imprint showing a checkered imperial eagle and medallions celebrating three pioneers of photography: Nicéphore Niépce (1765-1833), Louis Daguerre (1787-1851), and Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877).


Herr Sequardt's photo studio was at No. 159. I. Stock in Prossnitz, also known as Prostějov, which is now in the Czech Republic. In the 19th century, Prostějov / Prossnitz was a small city in Moravia, a Czech province of Austria, hence the use of two languages in the imprint. Wikipedia notes that it is known for its fashion industry.

The Coat of Arms of Moravia
Source: Wikimedia

The Helicon is a bass brass instrument made with the same length of tubing as the more compact tuba. Typically the B♭ helicon is 18 feet (5.5 m) long. Four rotary valves add more tubing for another 12 feet that allows the instrument to reach all musical pitches. Unlike the tuba, the helicon's plumbing is designed to be worn around the player giving him a comfortable position for marching or while riding a horse in a mounted band. This musician's uniform coat has epaulets, but I would not label him a military bandsman as he may be a member of a civilian town band. Notice that there is a high shine on the helicon and the musician's shoes too. At the top of the bell is a shield emblem for the instrument manufacturer.

 Kaiser Franz Joseph I. von Österreich , 1877
by Edmund Mahlknecht (Austrian, 1820–1903)
Source: Wikimedia

Today Austria is a small country, but for centuries it was the largest nation in central Europe, ruled by the House of Habsburg and containing dozens of ethnic peoples and languages. Kaiser Franz Josef was its ruler from 1848 to his death in 1916, which covers both the beginning of photography and the development of modern brass instruments with valves. To judge by this 1877 painting of Kaiser Franz Josef wearing hunting garb and a bowler hat, he and the Prossnitz low brass musician shopped at the same haberdasher.

This young Austrian boy, aged 12 or maybe 14, is wrapped inside a helicon that is less circular and shaped more like a smooched doughnut. The instrument has four rotary valves and a bell with a straight conical flare. He stands in the photography studio of A. Obersteiner of Graz, which is a large city in the Styria province of Austria, about 240 miles southwest of from Prostějov/Prossnitz. The capital city Wien is about halfway between. It is known for its six universities.


At the lower left corner, someone wrote the year and possibly month, 1879 Julie (?). It is one of the oldest photos in my collection. The studio imprint on the back of the cdv has a simple design for the initials of A. Obersteiner at Annenstrasse No.12, Graz. Only a short walk from the studio and across the river Mur, is the Akademisches Gymnasium a grammar school founded in 1573 by Charles II, Archduke of Austria. The boy's suit and tie gives him the look of a young scholar, so he may a low brass player in a school band.

The lad looks somewhat self-assured
as he grapples with his ungainly instrument.
The helicon has a bit of polish but mostly has a dull patina of tarnish.
The bell looks like it was made of a red copper metal
and has a large medallion of the manufacturer.
 

I imagine Herr Obersteiner asking the boy
to play a tune on his helicon.

Ommpah, ommpah, ommpah.

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
where a good shepherd always keeps close watch over his sheeps.