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{The Brussels Musical Instruments Museum Oboe Collection}
Stefaan Verdegem - Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel
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IND ?> Inv. number
1983.029
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CN/NP ?> Common name / Nominal Pitch
Oboe in C
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TS ?> Type or system
Système 3
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MK ?> Maker
Mahillon
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IN ?> Mark, inscriptions
(five-point star) / MEDAILLE D'OR / PARIS 1878 / (Belgian coat of arms) / C.MAHILLON / BRUXELLES / (five-point star) – on TJ and B;
(five-point star) / C.MAHILLON / BRUXELLES / (five-point star) – on MJ.
- SN ?> Serial number (?)13 (on back of bell).
- PL ?> Place of origin Brussels
- DM ?> Date of making after 1878. Late 19th or early 20th century.
- MATERIALS Rosewood with nickel silver keywork.
- MEASUREMENTS
- Body Length 566.15mm
- TJ length (body + tenon) 237.36mm + 18.3mm
- MJ length (body +tenon) 237.17mm + 15.3mm
- B length 91.6mm
- Acoustic Length 327mm
- BORE
- Minimal bore c. 4.0mm
- Reed well diameter 6.8mm
- Reed or crook well depth (if cylindrical) 17.5mm
- Bore at end of TJ 10.5mm
- Bore at top of MJ 10.5mm
- Bore at end of MJ 17.7mm
- Bore at top of B 18.5mm
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TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION
Nickel silver keywork, ferrules, thumb rest and reed cylinder.
System no.3 oboe with one extra feature: low-B lever closes C-key as alternative for R4.
Keys on axles and pillars. Long levers for left Eb and low B ('double kidney'). Low B-key on MJ. Short bell.
Round lipped keyheads type Heyde-181/6.
Milled out key-holes, some with countersunk edge.
3rd hole single.
No inner rim in bell.
Metal lining: reed well, sockets, joint and bell ends.
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FL ?> Faults
Good condition, some wear and tear, scratches but no visibles cracks. Thumb rest missing. Some springs missing, some pads poorly revised.
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UP ?> Usable Pitch
Only a few notes could be played. Pitch points towards c.430–435Hz (low notes staying low).
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PC ?> Performance Characteristics
Instrument mechanism is not in good playing condition. It could not be evaluated properly.
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PO ?> Previous Ownership
Ex-Warmont
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FM ?> Further information on maker
Haine & Meeùs (1986) pp.274–9.
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GL ?> General literature (about this type of instrument)
Mahillon catalogues of 1871, 1876, 1878, 1879, 1911 and 1926.
De Keyser (1996) App.1 pp.17–8.
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Comparable instruments
Brussels: MIM 3645 Mahillon oboe, but this oboe has no half-hole plateau.
Brussels: MIM 1972.013 Mahillon oboe, the low B-key being on the (longer) bell.
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Remarks
Matches 'N.1 Modéle Ordinaire' from the 1911 Mahillon Catalogue p.17.
According to De Keyser (1996) p.391 this kind of stamp was only used for first class instruments. It is not clear whether the number on the bell is a serial number.
System no.3 oboe, very similar to the no.3 mark in the Triebert (1855) catalogue. This oboe also matches the no.1 mark in the Mahillon catalogues of 1896, 1899, 1908 and 1911, including the short bell, but these oboes do not seem to have the Low B-C link, which might possibly be a custom-ordered feature.
It is also not clear whether this oboe might be the rosewood Modèle Pletinckx mentioned in the 1878 and 1879 catalogues, but without any number of keys. François Joseph Pletinckx (1829–1884) was the second oboe professor of the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles from 1864–1884.
See De Keyser (1996) App.1 pp.17–8 on dating of Mahillon oboe keywork systems.
{Mahillon}
