In trying to track down references to giant tubas built by Pierre-Louis Gautrot, I stumbled upon this cartoon in the September 7, 1867 edition of Le Monde Illustre. The caption reads, "The Prussian music being very certainly inspired by the group of Laocoon."
The reference is to a famous statue, seen on the right, depicting the myth of the Trojan priest Laocoon and his sons being attacked by giant serpents.
I'm guessing this is poking fun at the large helicon basses used in Prussian military bands at that time. But, to me, it kind of looks like a cross between the ancient bass horn known as a serpent and an upright bell, or original, Sousaphone (although, granted, the Sousaphone was still a couple of decades away from being invented!).
Here is the original statue, which reportedly goes back to the first century B.C., on display at the Vatican (photo courtesy of Douglas Yeo):
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