In November 2001, I bought an oboe based on Triébert's système 3. This was the
first significant change that Triébert made to the oboe. The main difference was adding a
vent for F#, controlled by rings for fingers 5 and 6. It still has a double hole for the
finger 3, but it also has a G# key, so there were two different ways to finger G#. It also
has two octave keys. Philip Bate considers only the second octave key to be typical of
système 3, and the other details to be typical of the oboe round 1840, but I'm not convinced.
Baines states:
... old Triébert's son Frédéric commands the scene, starting with his système 3 (c.
1840). This incorporated the second octave key, the half-hole plate, the brille (rings for
V and VI) and the long Eb key (left little finger).
Bates' illustrations all show a perforated cap for finger 5, for example, but I've never
seen that on an instrument of this age.
I'd put this instrument as being significantly newer, maybe as late as 1900. It doesn't have
a manufacturer's name, but it has a very large metal plate forming the thumbrest, with the
inscription Thibouville Lamy Jerôme & Co,, 10 & 7 Charterhouse St., London
EC. Bate doesn't mention them, but there are plenty of references on the web which
indicate that they are a French manufacturer, mainly of mechanical instruments, though there
are also references to flutes and clarinets. About the only oboe I've been able to find on
the web was a système 6 (modified conservatoire) instrument built in 1890, in
the collection of the university of
Tübingen. Here are some photos:
The keys for the right little finger are the same as on a modern oboe, just the shaping
looks a little different. Note that there are two separate Eb keys, however.
The half-hole for finger 1 looks a little primitive, but it's pretty much the same as for
a modern instrument. There are two separate side keys for C and Bb. Both open for C.
