Large Tacked Snare Drum

Now this drum is large -- 21" diameter, 21" height (including counterhoops) (shell measures 20-1/2" diameter, 17-1/2" height). It dwarfs the other drums in my collection, some of them 17" diameter Civil War originals. (Side by side it looks twice as big.)

At first we thought it might be a bass drum. But it was just slightly shy of bass drum dimensions to qualify. And then telltale snare depresions were found in one of the counterhoops and what could be a snare bed (or part thereof) on one of the edges of the shell. There were no screw holes indicative of a long gone snare mechanism. And, based on the size and tack construction of this drum, we were not surprised as pressed snares were a possibility.

Based on the size, construction, tack pattern, drilled counterhoops and condition of this drum, we are estimating pre-Civil War, early 19th century, possibly earlier. Maker unknown.

If you have any opinions/information, please share them with us.

Before: Deceptive, this drum's hidden beauty was not well represented by this photo from eBay (item no. 170214783047). Just a shell, two red (faded to almost orange) drilled counterhoops (one broken), two flesh hoops. (The snare notch in the underside of the red counterhoop is visible at the center of the photo.)


After: After a stay at Cooperman Drum Company in Bellows Falls, Vermont, new drilled counter hoops, flesh hoops, heads, snare, ropes and tugs, voila: