The Serpent - Reviving a Vintage Musical Instrument

This instrument has been around since the 16th century, and has somehow largely escaped popular culture.  I stumbled upon this attractive machine as I searched for alternative instruments that I had seen on the TV show Home Improvement.  Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised.

The serpent is a bass wind instrument, originally made out of wood, whose sound can be compared to that of a tuba or baritone.  As I learned on the http:\\www.serpentwebsite.com, there are a few variants as well, as with a saxophone. These include the church serpent, the more compact military serpent, and the more linear shaped serpent foreville.