This
amazing 1918 Conn New Wonder Artist Special came to us via a
yard sale in Sacramento, California, and was in terrible shape.
Originally gold plated, the gold had thinned to the point that
the silver undercoat began to bleed through and tarnishing to
black leaving the surface a wild, mottled pattern of gold and
black. Then some misguided individual shot clear lacquer over
the whole horn. Disaster following degradation.
We saw what we thought was beauty under the
poor finish because the horn was in excellent mechanical condition without a
dent or ding and the engraving was stunning, a patriotic motif
with a frontiersman bearing a banner climbing the hill to the
"purple mountains majesty" while the American Eagle flanked by
two 13 stared flags watches overall. And, if one thinks back to
the time - 1918 - at the end of the "Great War to End War" a
patriotic theme is just what the country needed. Wow.
We sent the horn right off to George Borodi
in Cleveland who has wrought magic on several horns for us
to see what he might do with it. What came back is the horn
stripped of its original plating and re-plated with heavy
silver. The keywork is gold plated.
We do not apologize for the price. This is a
truly unique instrument, there are no others. Its beauty and
statement stand alone as perhaps the crowning achievement of C G
Conn's long history. You can buy an average Mark VI for this
amount or you can have this iconic masterpiece.
All our horns now ship in a ProTec
style, zipper closure, hard sided case
unless otherwise instructed. We recommend this case very highly
and we prefer to ship in them because we are
confident there will be no damage.
However, if you feel that you must
have an original, period trunk case (despite smells,
condition, questionable protection for the instrument,
etc.) we have them
available at no additional charge.
Have a look at these cases at:
CASES or
from the Home page under
Accessories.
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Please Forgive The Golden Tone of The
Pictures - The Horn Is Silver With Gold Keys
It is a Trick of The Light During Photography
- Please Use Your Imagination Until I Can Re-shoot It.
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