(b) Buyer Registration: Prospective buyers must register with Moran's before bidding. The auctioneer may be recorded (visually, aurally or otherwise) and all participants consent to such recording. (a) Admission: The auction is open to the public, though Moran's reserves the right to refuse admission or participation to anyone at any time.
The absence of a condition report does not imply than an item is free from defects or restoration, nor does a reference to particular defects imply the absence of others. Condition reports are offered as a courtesy and are typically published in Moran's catalogue or can be made available upon request.
(c) Property Sold 'As Is': Neither Moran's nor the seller provides any guarantee in relation to the nature of the property, or to any errors or omissions in the catalogue or supplemental material apart from the Limited Warranty stated below. Though buyers are not legally required to inspect lots prior to purchase, failure to do so may constitute a waiver of complaint that an item was not delivered in a condition equal to the existent condition at the auction. (b) Buyer's Responsibility: Buyers are responsible for determining to their own satisfaction the true nature and condition of any lot prior to bidding.
Prospective buyers are strongly encouraged to personally examine any property in which they are interested. In many cases, particular lots can be examined in advance by private appointment. (a) Public Preview: All property is available for inspection by public preview during the day of auction. The contract for the sale of the property is therefore made between the seller and the buyer. Both cornets are 12 7/8" long with the shanks removed.Terms and Conditions for John Moran AuctioneersĮxcept as otherwise stated, John Moran Auctioneers Moran's) acts as agent for the seller. Number 110 has a bell rim diameter of 4 5/8" and bore of. The bell rim on number 1882 is 4 7/16" and has a bore measuring The bell stamp is not very clear, but the earlier cornet has the legend "Proportions et Forms Brevetee" (patented) and the monogram "GB" for Gustave and the later has "FR" for Florentine. These two cornets were made at the same Paris address, number 1882 by Gustave before he left and number 110 by his wife Florentine Ridoux afterwards.
At about the time that Gustave Besson fled Paris for London in 1857, a new series of numbers was started. In fact, it was made a year or two earlier.
The most interesting differences in these cornets is in the markings, Tom's is serial number 110 and mine is 1882, indicating that it must have been made several years later. You will also see differences in braces and pull knobs.
This was an area where Besson experimented with a number of variations, the design seen in the first example is very similar to what became the most commonly seen on twentieth century cornets. The third and fourth photos also show that the ports through the valve section are different. It has only one tuning slide, the additional slide on later Besson cornets is used to change from high pitch to low pitch. The nickel cornet is slightly more compact with a smaller bell in both the rim and the curve. I'm not going to parse the variations that were offered in the early years, but point out the differences in these two, which at first appear very similar. Most early Besson cornets that we do see are more like these two Modeles Francais (French Models). I feature one of Niles Eldredge's examples with Stoelzel valves on my restoration pages and a previously unknown model with rotary valves has only just surfaced very recently. By the late nineteenth century there were just two dominant models of Bb cornets that retained their popularity for about five decades, but there were a number of short lived models (at least some of them patented) that lead up to those. Most brass instrument fans aren't familiar with the earliest Besson cornets. The nickel plated cornet (plating is not original) is the earliest Besson in my collection, which I have always wanted to restore, but always has lower priority with other projects. I just finished restoring the brass cornet shown here for Tom Meacham, making this a good time to feature two early cornets made by Besson in Paris.