Mounts of Embellishment

[single-malt wishart]

Hi Ringo!
Finally read the rules {which is good for us blondes} and will try not to confuse with too many questions.

Can you please give us a rough idea on the timeline for when changes in embellishment materials where introduced? ie: wooden mounts for its typical period; when was ivory introduced; sterling introduced; mixed cocktails of ivory-wood-sterling or any partners of the trio and the classic 'chaser' of all, nickel?

I'm hoping this will assist me the already acclaimed: subtle georgian; over the top-vicky-shite-decoration; endulged Edwardian {with vicky-hangovers}; and then the disappearance of resources as well as economics during the war years.

So my question is: has bagpipe manufacture and embellishments match the different styles and periods for our past?
Thanks heaps!
Karen

[Ringo]

Well, it's too early for a drink... Oh, what the hell! Thank's Karen.

"So my question is: has bagpipe manufacture and embellishments match the different styles and periods for our past?"

Art Deco bagpipes. What a concept!

For sake of argument let's create three different time periods.

Early three-droned GHBs (Let's say pre 1800 but not get too hung up on the date) were delicate looking with smooth flowing lines. You didn't see square shoulders or sharp corners. The bells were chaliced and relatively deep. Fixtures were mostly bone and horn. I've got some examples of these in the museum (http://www.thebagpipeplace.com/page3.html) .

Throughout the 1800's you saw "military" styling take hold. Edinburgh pipes were delicate looking relative to the huskier Glasgow pipes. Bone and horn gave way to ivory, nickel and silver.

In the 1900's the Glasgow military style bagpipe became the standard. Companies like Henderson, Robertson, Lawrie, Hardie, and Grainger & Campbell (just to name a few) did a lot to make this style the standard. J & R Glen were faithful to Edinburgh styling until the end in 1978.

The design in mounts changed quite a bit over the years. In the very early years mounts were very small perhaps moreso because of the size of the raw materials than for any other reason. As ivory became popular the size and style of mounts changed. Extremes (in size) are noted with Duncan Fraser and James Robertson. Wood mounts have always been around as a low-cost alternative.

Bagpipe silver is another complete study. Some of the early hand engraving was/is incredible. What stands out more than the particular art style of any period is the incredible skill of the hand engravers of the early days. They were true artists. Designs were generally traditional celtic-based.

This entire area (The study and documentation of the GHB over the years) would be a huge but worthwhile undertaking. We are still uncovering important and obscure information. Just last week I became aware of a bagpipe that I believe was made by John MacDougall, which would place the time of manufacture sometime between 1835 and 1857. Each piece is stamped JSM. The interesting feature is that the drones are sleeved, which means that this bagpipe pre-dates when this procedure was generally thought to have started. Of course, this does not mean that they weren't sleeved sometime after they were originally made, so one has to be careful about drawing any hard and fast conclusions.

Karen, I should state here that this entire topic is so broad and so deep that you could dedicate a lifetime of learning and still only be scratching the surface.

Ringo