The reed contrabass in C, otherwise known as the Italian: contrabbasso ad ancia or French: contrabasse à anche, is a type of woodwind instrument. It is reminiscent of an ophicleide in appearance but, unlike the ophicleide, employs a double reed (akin to that of an oboe) for the purpose of sound production. It was developed by the Belgian maker Mahillion in the 1860s based on a slightly earlier design by the Czech maker Červený. (source)