Serpent

Serpentine-shaped body of wood, covered originally with black leather, the curves supported by five brass braces. Leather replaced in the 1970s, during conservation, by some form of black tape. Six fingerholes, five bushed with ivory, one with bone. Five circular brass keys originally, one now completely missing and two having lost their tails. Brass mounts on the mouthpiece end and bell. Original brass crook and mouthpiece now missing. Some evidence of red paint inside the bell. This instrument is said to have been played in an unknown church in Derby.