Laube C Clarinet
Article by Steve Asmus.
Clarinet courtesy of the Steve & Alexandra Asmus Collection
OVERVIEW
Pitch: LP C
Maker: Drausin Laube
Hallmark: Laube/La Couture Boussey (Eure)/Brevete/SGDG
Place of Manufacture: France
Approximate Date: 1895-1900
Material: Grenadilla wood
Keys: German silver(?)
Keywork: Boehm
Serial Number: no serial, batch number 5
Laube - Grenadilla wood with integrated barrel and original Grenadilla wood mouthpiece, 17/6 Boehm, C (LP), Bell stamped "P. COLIN, Luthier Nimes-Montpellier", c. 1895-1900.
Bore Measurements:
Mouthpiece (Original) - 14.50 mm
Upper Joint - Top - 14.70 mm
Upper Joint - 2" in from top - 14.35 mm
Upper Joint - Bottom - 14.20 mm
Hallmarks, Inscriptions & Marks:
Upper Joint - Lyre / inside dotted oval (LAUBE / LA COUTURE BOUSSEY/(EURE)) / Script LD / Brevete / SGDG
Bell - Lyre / inside dotted oval (LAUBE / LA COUTURE BOUSSEY/(EURE)) Script LD/ Brevete / SGDG / P. COLIN / LUTHIER/NIMES-MONTPELLIER
Batch mark on UJ - 5 (Located under the bridge key.)
Batch mark on LJ - 5 (Located between the posts for the G# crows foot key)
Very rare Boehm clarinet in the key of C (LP), made by the La Couture Boussey maker Drausin Laube, and stamped on the bell P. Colin, Luthier Nimes-Montpeller. Drausin Laube was a highly awarded maker in various exhibitions throughout the late 19thCentury, including being awarded a Gold Medal for Clarinet at the 1900 Paris Exhibition. Laube was the successor to the Herouard Freres line in 1878, and continued making clarinets and other woodwind instruments until just after 1900. By 1920’s advertisements, Louis Gerry Music was listed as the successor of the Laube name. There were instruments that were produced after 1900 with the Laube La Coutire Boussey (EURE) hallmark, but to date all examples that I have examined have been marked with a script LL under the hallmark, and not the earlier script LD that this clarinet exhibits. These instruments do not share the same building characteristics of the earlier made Laube clarinets, which could possibly suggest the Laube ownership had transferred shortly after the 1900 Paris Exhibition.
The P. Colin, luthier, Nimes-Montpellier stamping on the bell creates another mystery about this clarinet. I have only been able to locate one other clarinet bearing this stamp and that is a Fernand Chapelain Boehm C clarinet (without integrated barrel), however it is only stamped Montpellier and not Nimes-Montpellier. To date I have been unable to find any other information on P. Colin, except that this was possibly an instrument dealer in the south of France. This clarinet was purchased from the South of France for this collection before its complete restoration, so P. Collin being an instrument dealer in this region would fit with where the clarinet was found.