{Mahillon}

System no.3 oboe, but without a half-hole plateau.

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, joint and bell ends.

Good condition. Some wear and tear. Traces of a plugged crack on TJ. Instrument in excellent playing condition.

Case in black leather-covered wood, red velvet inside. Dimensions (LxDxH) 400 x 15 x 7mm. There are 2 keys.

In the case there is a grease container in exotic wood, and a reed case with lid – which seems to match the space (though a little too big) – TL 80mm making it suitable for reeds up to 75–76mm.

There is also a handwritten note (see under).

The reed box contains one (broken) reed – not clear if original – on a 47mm soldered and corked staple. The reed TL 66.3mm has waxed brown thread and a very short V-scrape with length 7.3mm.

A = c.435Hz with reed TL 69mm / staple 42mm ø 4.8mm / tip width 7.6mm.

Excellent intonation, beautiful warm sound, easy emission.

Gift of F.André. There is a handwritten note inside: “Hautbois de Mahillon ayant appartenu à Jean-Baptiste André / 1er prix en 1877 / Classe de Mr Pletinckx / Père de Franz André / Chef d’orchestre // n°3645.

De Keyser (1994).

De Keyser (1996).

Haine & Meeùs (1986) pp.274–9.

Verdegem (2015).

Mentioned in Waterhouse (1993) pp.249–250.

Mahillon catalogues of 1871, 1876, 1878, 1879, 1911 and 1926.

De Keyser (1996) App.1 pp.17–8.

Brussels: MIM 1972.013 Mahillon oboe, only this oboe is longer and has a half-hole plateau.

Brussels: MIM 1983.029 Mahillon oboe, with a half-hole plateau and a short bell, the low B-key being on MJ.

System no.3 oboe, very similar to the no.3 mark in the Triebert (1855) catalogue.

According to De Keyser (1996) p.391 this kind of stamp was only used for first class instruments.

There are a number of indications to date this instrument as end of the 19th century:

11-keyed instruments like this seem not to appear any more in the Mahillon catalogues from 1896–1926, the minimum number of keys being 12 (with a half-hole plateau probably). According to the catalogues of the 1870s these 11-keyed oboes normally came in African blackwood (no rosewood mentioned) and with nickel silver keywork. See De Keyser (1996) App.1 pp.17–8 on dating of Mahillon oboe keywork systems.

From the 1896 catalogue on, all the oboe marks have a short bell, the lower keys being on the MJ now.