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Oboe, C

Vernacular name:Oboe-sax
Maker: F. Loree
Date: 1929-1938 ca.
Place Made:Paris, France, Europe
Serial No: AH8
SignedOn all sections: F. LORÉE / [star] / PARIS
MarkingsTop joint and middle joint: MADE / IN / FRANCE
Bell: MADE / FRANCE
DescriptionGrenadilla body in three sections. Saxophone system keywork in nickel silver. Nickel silver trim.

Saxophone system oboes were developed in an attempt to appeal to saxophonists who could then double on the oboe without learning a new key system. According to Robert Howe, they were introduced after 1929. Besides Loree, oboe-saxes were also made by Boosey & Hawkes and Kohlert; metal-bodied oboe-saxes were made by several other makers. They were not a commercial success because the fingering system was not the real challenge for saxophonists – it was developing an embouchure to control the double reed. Furthermore, it was difficult attracting customers during the Depression. The saxophone-system oboe seems to have died out by 1940.
DimensionsLength: 600 mm
ProvenanceArne B. Larson Collection, Vermillion, South Dakota, 1979.
Terms
Credit Line: Arne B. Larson Collection, 1979
Not on view
Published ReferencesAndré P. Larson, A Catalog of the Double Reed Instruments in the Arne B. Larson Collection of Musical Instruments, MM thesis, University of South Dakota, 1968, No. 33.
Object number: 01324