Distin, London Cornet

In the 1830s, John Distin and his four sons formed a brass quintet for the purpose of performing concerts.  He had established himself as a professional musician at least twenty years previously and realized that there was a market for his family band.  They first performed on keyed bugle, slide trumpet, trombone and hand horn but as valve brasses became available, they utilized them as well.  They were among the very first to popularize the Saxhorns.  It is thought that they first learned of these and immediately started using them on their 1844 tour of Europe.  They were also very quick to become London agents for Sax's instruments, at first selling them from the family home as Distin and Sons.  

By 1850, Henry Distin was the proprietor of Distin and Sons and imported French instruments by makers other than Sax and set about to manufacture his own line of brass instruments by 1853 and thus ending his relationship with Adolphe Sax.  Not much is known about the early London shop but from several Saxhorns from this period that I have worked on over the years, the quality of design and workmanship rivalled those made by Sax.  

In 1864 Distin was granted a patent for an improved cornet with "light piston valves", a new process for making single wall, rather than double wall, as made by all other makers of Perinet valves and variants.  These were a slight variation of the valves first made by Francois Perinet in 1838 and which we generically call "Perinet piston valves".  Other than the light pistons, porting of the valves and slight cosmeitics, this cornet was very much a copy of Antoine Courtois Koenig's model cornet, being made since about 1855, and vied for popularity of this modern cornet. Precise measurements of the bell on this cornet compared to those of Courtois demonstrate that Distin went to great pains making his copy. The graph below shows the measurements of both cornets. They are so close that they could have been made on the same mandrel.  Most of these historical facts come from William Waterhouse, The New Langwill Index, Tony Bingham, 1993.

Click on image above for larger view.

This example of Distin's Light Piston Valve Cornet was made about the time that Distin sold his factory to Boosey and Co. in 1868.  It was entered into the factory stock book in January 30, 1869 and sold to the New York branch of Boosey and Co. on November 15 of that year.  The stock book indicates that it was indeed originally silver plated and is in remarkable state of preservation.  The original silver plating is almost completely intact and while it had a number of dents, the valves are still quite tight.   This last point is extremely rare in antique cornets.  It also retains its original case, Bb mouthpipe shank, two bits and lyre.  Notice that the shank and bits all are stamped "DISTIN".  Missing from the original kit are the mouthpiece, A shank and crook for G, all of which had a spot in the case.  

The overall length with mouthpiece removed is 12 9/16", the bell rim diameter is 4 7/8" and the bore measures .455".  Jules Levy had lent his endorsement to Distin’s cornet starting in 1865, which was only a year or so after Courtois introduced its "Levy's Model" cornets and there is no reason to believe that Courtois stopped producing them in these years. The Distin endorsement seems to have ended shortly after the Boosey acquisition, but he again endorses cornets made by Henry Distin when he starts making them in 1878 in New York City.  Indeed Jules Levy lent his name to quite a few makers for Levy model mouthpieces as well.  I believe that I have at least six distinct makes of Levy model mouthpieces in my collection.  The last photo above shows the flamboyant Mr. Levy playing his Courtois cornet in the 1870s.

Another cornet by Distin has survived with original finish in the collection of Steve Ward is shown in the photos below. It is the same basic model and dimensions with the addition of the fourth valve and echo bell. It was made about two years earlier, making an interesting comparison. Take note of the slight differences in the bell stamping, “Distin & Co” being the name of the company after being acquired by Boosey & Co. and the appearance of the trumpet with “Distin” banner. It lacks the name and serial numbers on the second valve casing, although the serial number appears on the fourth valve.

After selling his company in 1868, Henry Distin spent his time promoting other musical acts and moved to New York in 1877.  His plans were to build a modern brass manufactory befitting the forward looking American ethos.   More about this on my page featuring a Distin cornet made in New York City.