This object consists of two rectangular open organ pipes, one longer than the other. Both have a round foot at the base.
2016.ph.724.1 is the longer pipe. It has two small round holes towards the end of the pipe, arranged along the pipe’s length about 4cm apart.
2016.ph.724.2 is the shorter pipe. It has a single round hole about 3cm from the end of the pipe.
Accession Number: 2016.ph.724.1-2
Alternative Name:
Primary Materials: Wood: Pine, Mahogany
Each pipe is stamped: “RUDOLPH KOENIG À PARIS”
724.2: On the closed end of the pipe, by the mouthpiece, is a paper label with a handwritten label reading, “PHY 1 LLL”.
Width=4.3cm, Height=5cm 724.1: Length=34cm; 724.2 Length=28.5cm
Function: Demonstration of acoustic properties.
Very good. There is some wear along the edges of the pipes.
Associated Instruments:
Manufacturer: Rudolph Koenig, Paris
Date of Manufacture: ca. 1880s
These pipes are part of a collection of acoustic teaching apparatus purchased from Rudolph Koenig by University of Toronto professor of physics James Loudon. These pipes form part of a comprehensive selection of organ pipes that the university acquired “representing a… demonstration of every possible organ pipe effect.” (Pantalony, Altered Sensations. New York: Springer, 2009. Pg 119-122). These were likely used by students for investigations of acoustical properties at the university’s physics department teaching laboratory.
The lack of catalogue number on the base, as with the other similar organ pipes, suggests these pipes might not have been part of James Loudon’s initial 1878 acquisition from Koenig.
These objects do not have a catalogue number written on them, like most of the Koenig pipes. It is possible they form part of a another instrument.
See also: “Altered Sensations: Rudolph Koenig’s Acoustical Workshop in Nineteenth Century Paris” by David Pantalony (New York: Springer, 2009).
Historical Notes:
Themes: