855

Stamp: Engraved on head and body: L. L. / LOUIS LOT / PARIS / BREVET�. Additionally on head, after Paris: 6434

Marks:

Manufacture Date: This exquisite plated flute was made at the very end of 1898, under Barat (date from Gianinni's numbers).

Hallmarks: The hallmarks H#V and the boar's head are remarkably preserved on the silver lipplate.

Comments: This instrument is our favorite of the plated Lot's that have been known to us recently. It has a good feel under the fingers, and the very rewarding tone of Lot. The condition is excellent, with only a tiny bit of plating missing on the trill key rod, possibly done while swedging, a job whose marks remain. The footjoint, too, has seen some typical adjustments to the rods. These are not at all uncommon, being part of a standard adjustment, and are only visible on close inspection. One can see that this flute has been well loved, well played, and put to bed before the party got too rowdy!

Material: This is the model 7, Maillechort flute with silver plating and C foot. We call this German or nickel silver, for no good reason, as there is generally no silver in the alloy. Curiously, Maillechort is named after the 1819 inventors, Maillet and Chorier, who mixed copper, nickel and zinc to make a hard, workable, attractive, and cheap metal. The lipplate is silver, with hallmarks. The pad washers are all original French metal. The springs are steel, and possibly original. The crown and cork are the metal screw type, and look fresh from the shop inside.

System: This flute is built in the final system of Villette, which remains largely unaltered to this day. It has a C foot, side G#, and Bb trill. There are no adjusting screws. The right hand uses the hanging T, and the footjoint is pinless. The scale seems to be the classic A=435-438 French scale, yet the headjoint is untrimmed and the flute plays at A=440. The sounding length is just a whisker over 600 mm; the A=435 flutes were built at 605mm. Thus this appears to be one of the rare Louis Lot flutes intended to play at A=440.

Condition: This flute is a very fine example of the flutes made during Taffanel's professorship at the Conservatoire. This is the flute his students would receive for first prize at the Conservatoire. The tone is classic Lot, yet the instrument shares a bit of the volume and texture of the 20th century flutes to come. It has been well used, such that the mechanism has had to be swedged, yet entirely unabused. Nothing has been changed from the day of delivery, except the pads and some adjustments to take out key movement. This is a very lovely player, in near perfect condition.

Pitch: Pitched at A=440, apparently originally.

Sounding Length: Sounding length 600 mm

Measurements:

Weight: 384 g.

Case: In possibly the original case, which is in poor condition.