- Made in France, circa 1890
- Silver-plated maillechort
- 0.016″ seamed tubing
- Soldered tone holes
- Open hole
- Pointed keys
- Inline G
- C-foot with teardrop D# key
- Embouchure: 10.54 mm x 12.24 mm
- Weight: 401 g
- Head sounding length: 146 mm
- Sounding length: 600 mm
- Traditional scale
- A=440 Hz
This flute has a sweet and distinctively French sound throughout. Its voice shimmers with a bright glow in the second and third registers. The sound carries almost effortlessly, filling the room with a lovely French tone. The low register is resonant and flexible, allowing you to color the sound to your desire.
The Millereau company was known for its woodwind instruments, including saxophones. The company started making flutes around 1873 and modeled its production after the Louis Lot flutes during Villette’s ownership. Millereau emulated Villette’s design in the clutch next to the G# tone hole and the D# touch key. However, unlike Villette’s Louis Lot flutes, most of Millereau’s flutes were silver-plated maillechort; they made only a comparatively small number of silver flutes. Regardless of the metal, all Millereau flutes lack serial numbers.
The sounding length of the headjoint is shorter than other headjoints of this period, so the tenon may have been cut. However, the ferrule seems to be in its original position; there are no signs it has been moved upwards. When the headjoint is inserted up to the ferrule, there is approximately a 5 mm gap in the barrel, which suggests that the original headjoint sounding length was no more than 151 mm, an appropriate length for flutes pitched at A=440 Hz. The total sounding length is also 600 mm, which is another clue that the flute was designed to play at A=440 Hz. We suspect a previous owner shortened the headjoint tenon to play at a higher pitch but changed their mind before moving the ferrule. (Another possibility is that the tenon was damaged, and the damaged portion was cut off.) The scale has the characteristics of a traditional long scale and plays well at A=440 Hz with the head pulled out 1/8″.
The pads are new, and the flute is housed in a non-original flute case.
Price: $2,500
Sold as is. Sales tax applies to purchases within California. For inquiries on purchasing, please contact Gary Lewis.
