Welcome to the engraving gallery!  These are pictures of engraving that I personally love and try to absorb into my own work. 

The Conn Artist Model/"Portrait Model" saxophone:



The Conn engravers were absolutely amazing, as evidenced by this wonderful picture of a heron.  The engraving is done in triple coloration with raw brass, silver and gold.  The skill required to get the depth right is unspeakably difficult.



Another amazing Conn artist model.



..and another...







This is a great example of art deco engraving from the early 30s.







This is one of the rarest altos ever -- a religiously-themed Connqueror alto.  Wow!



This is one of my very favorite portraits.  The execution is just so amazingly good.



Another great deco horn. 















Another one of my favorites.  The Conn name engraved on this is perhaps the nicest I've ever seen.


Conn engraved trumpets:



Wow!  This is all straight cut!  Around the lower regions of the bell, that is very, very difficult to do.



Leda and the swan.. a favorite of the Conn engravers, especially Julius Stenberg.



Amazing...



This looks simple, but the execution is flawless!  Plus I love the deco pattern a lot.

King Engraving:

I've been asked many times what I think the best vintage instrument engraving is, and without hesitation, I say "King Artist Models."  These are absolutely the most intricate, well-executed engravings I have ever seen on a musical instrument.  Surprisingly they are not all that rare, which is a major plus for collectors.  I used to own one and studied it endlessly.  There's also one in a local music store here I like to go look at periodically. 



This was the beginning of King's great engraving.  Even their normal line horns such as the Zephyr and Super 20 were exquisitely engraved.  But here's the real star of the show:



I run out of words trying to describe how amazing these are.  I can only hope someday to create something so beautiful.


The front of the same instrument.  Wow...  and the entire thing is engraved like this too!



Here's an incredibly rare trumpet from the same vintage. 


Simply amazing!

Selmer Saxophones:



This Selmer Super is one of my favorite engraved instruments of all time.  Not the most complex or ornate, but flawlessly executed and designed. 


Look at the quality of the lines... absolutely perfect.


The Selmer Balanced Action was perhaps the best engraved regular production horn.  Each on of these had a unique scene engraved on it.  Here are a few nice examples.








After the Balanced Action came the Super Balanced Action.  The scenes went away, and the pattern standardized.  But, this is still amazing engraving, and it set the bar for all modern work.  I really love this style.

Buescher Engraving:

Buescher was not known for their engraving, but there were some really fine examples.  The True Tone was engraved in a variety of styles, and sometimes as fancy as the Conn Artist Model. 


A nice True Tone



This is on the side of the bell of the Buescher 400.  It had a very elaborate pattern with a tophat, cane, gloves and a castle scene.  I really like these as well.


The castle... wonderfully executed.

Stay tuned for more to come...