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{Mahillon}

IND ?> Inv. number
1972.013
Other Number 4615
CN/NP ?> Common name / Nominal Pitch
Oboe in C
TS ?> Type or system
Système 3
MK ?> Maker
Mahillon, C.
IN ?> Mark, inscriptions
(Belgian coat of arms) / C.MAHILLON / BRUXELLES - on TJ and B.
PL ?> Place of origin Brussels
DM ?> Date of making End of the 19th or beginning of the 20th century.
MATERIALS Rosewood (Dalbergia Nigra) with nickel silver keywork.
MEASUREMENTS
Body Length 543 mm
TJ length (body + tenon) 218 mm + 18 mm
MJ length (body +tenon) 193 mm + 18.5 mm
B length 132 mm
Acoustic Length 305 mm
BORE
Minimal bore 4.3 mm
Reed well diameter 6.9 mm
Reed or crook well depth (if cylindrical) 12.4 mm
Bore at end of TJ 9.5 mm
Bore at top of MJ 10.7 mm
Bore at end of MJ 14.2 mm
Bore at top of B 14.5 mm
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION
System no. 3 oboe with nickel silver keywork, ferrules, thumb rest and reed cylinder.

Keys on axles and pillars. Long levers for left Eb and low B ('double kidney'). Low B-key on bell.

Round lipped keyheads type Heyde-181/7.

Milled out key-holes, some with countersunk edge.

3rd hole doubled with finger cove.

No inner rim in bell.

Metal lining: reed well, TJ tenon, joint and bell ends.
FL ?> Faults
Good condition. Some wear and tear. Repaired spring on cross-F. No visible cracks.
UP ?> Usable Pitch
With some ‘instant repair’ a few notes could be played giving A = c. 435 Hz with reed TL 69 mm / staple 42 mm ø 4.8 mm / 7.6 mm.
PC ?> Performance Characteristics
Instrument could not be evaluated due to condition being too bad.
PO ?> Previous Ownership
Ex-Dercq
FM ?> Further information on maker
De Keyser (1994).

De Keyser (1996).

Haine & Meeùs (1986) pp. 274-279.
GL ?> General literature (about this type of instrument)
Mahillon catalogues of 1871, 1876, 1878, 1879, 1911 and 1926.

De Keyser (1996) App. 1 pp. 17-18.
Comparable instruments
Brussels: MIM 3645 Mahillon oboe, but this oboe is shorter and has no half-hole plateau.

Brussels: MIM 1983.029 Mahillon oboe, with a short bell, the low B-key being on MJ.
Remarks
According to De Keyser (1996) p. 391 this kind of stamp was only used for first class instruments.

System no. 3 oboe, very similar to the no. 3 mark in the Triebert (1855) catalogue. This oboe also matches – with the exception of the twinned hole 3 – the no. 1 mark in the Mahillon catalogues of 1896, 1899, 1908 and 1911, but all oboe marks in these catalogues seem to have a short bell, the low B-key being on the MJ.

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 2nd oboe professor of the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles from 1864-1884.

See De Keyser (1996) App. 1 pp. 17-18 on dating of Mahillon oboe keywork systems.

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{The Brussels Musical Instruments Museum Oboe Collection}

{Mahillon}