Please could someone holding Langwill look up and copy to this thread any entry on P. Gautié & Cie. of Toulouse?
The P stands for Pierre and the limited amount I have found online suggests the company were dealers, not manufacturers, who commissioned instruments from top craftsmen/workshops, with activity under that name from 1887 to 1926.
Why?
Well, I’ve just recently acquired a flute with their stamps (on all three joints) - no time right now to take and post pics or a clip, but will when I can. For now, the eBay listing will have to suffice for the curious. Above the main stamp is what looks like a crowned chalice with the plain initials G and D either side of it. There is also a curlicued monogram in the centre of the main stamp which appears to be a D over/under a C or G: these may possibly identify the actual manufacturer. Below all is a segmented five-pointed star. There is a serial no. on the head, 5031.
To forestall a rash of questions, yes, it plays at A=440 with the slide not quite fully pushed home, so I would guess must be a late item or it would be at diapason normal. Closed SL is 587mm, OL is 676 and C#-Eb is 259. The vendor’s statement that it was crack-free wasn’t true, but there wasn’t anything too bad, and the overhaul they’d done was deficient - durn thing leaked like a sieve, primarily around the inner part (part-liner tube) of the French tuning slide, where although a crack over it in the wood had been sealed, no-one had thought to suck test and make sure the liner was sealed into the wood… I was able readily to sort that and also a typical but minor crack over the foot socket - not into the Eb hole, happily. It is playing quite nicely now, though there are a few more things to tweak. It has a pleasant woody voice and is not at all weedy, though as is predictable it is less powerful than a cylindrical Bohm flute.
Any help with info much appreciated!
