Glass Flute

In 1806, the Parisian woodwind instrument maker Claude Laurent obtained French patent number 382, "nouvelle fabrication des flûtes en cristal" ("a new [method of] making flutes from crystal"). His innovation did not claim any special qualities of sonority, but rather a greater ability than wood or ivory to resist problems caused by changes in humidity and temperature. Laurent's new design was also the first to employ all-metal sockets and a novel mechanical means of applying keywork. The Miller collection has eighteen glass flutes. It is curious that the first such instrument collected by Miller (DCM 0011) is the only glass flute Laurent ever made that features a version of the Boehm system. The reader is directed to Miller's article "Flutes of Glass," The Flutist 6, no. 7 (July 1925): 151.