Instrument: conical Boehm, cocuswood, crutch, original case
Maker: Buffet, Auguste Juene & Victor Coche
Pitch: A=440
Sounding Length:
Total Length:
Embouchure size:
Restorer: Gary Lewis
Notes: This flute is in excellent original condition, now fully restored to playing condition. It was developed as a joint project between the fine French flute maker, Auguste Buffet and the flutist Victor Coche. It was intended to compete against the flutes of Godfroy which were being made starting about a year earlier than the development of this flute. It is an extremely rare model with only one other known example in private or public collections. It dates from 1838-1839 and was the first Boehm flute to receive any sort of patent and was officially approved by the French Academie of Science.
This design retains some of Boehm's original features and includes other French adaptations. The superb embouchure hole is based on Boehm’s semi-square design with an indented lip area. The embouchure is highly undercut. The use of the crutch was also a feature promoted by Boehm. On the other hand, it features a closed Dorus G# key where Boehm strongly favored the open G#. It is the first flute to use the "Buffet clutches," replacing the “vaulted clutches” used by Boehm and Godfroy. The instrument also has other special keys. There is an R1 G# and an R1 B (activating the thumb key.) This flute was made prior to the invention of the Bb thumb key so using R1 is the only way to play Bb.
Demonstration recordings:
