Flute

Manufacturer Jean-Louis Tulou French
ca. 1852
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 684
The cross-fingerings used on simple-system flutes such as this created subtle variations in tone color from note to note. Despite the eventual dominance of Boehm’s 1847 cylindrical flute, many players preferred simple-system instruments throughout the nineteenth century. Tulou, a flautist with the Paris Opéra and professor at the Conservatoire, expressly rejected the Boehm flute.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Flute
  • Manufacturer: Jean-Louis Tulou (French)
  • Date: ca. 1852
  • Geography: Paris, France
  • Culture: French
  • Medium: Cocus wood, gold
  • Dimensions: 1 1/8 × 24 3/4 × 1 1/2 in. (2.9 × 62.9 × 3.8 cm)
    Case: 2 13/16 × 11 7/16 × 4 3/4 in. (7.1 × 29.1 × 12.1 cm)
  • Classification: Aerophone-Blow Hole-side-blown flute (transverse)
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Robert Alonzo Lehman Bequest, 2009
  • Object Number: 2009.24
  • Curatorial Department: Musical Instruments

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