s/n 2686 bari found!

[pete]

I've known that this horn was supposed to be floating around somewhere for years. I never bothered to look for it, really, and I just found it while I was looking for something completely different.

baritone saxophone | the mim, musical instruments museum

In 1841, a saxophone made by Adolphe Sax was heard in public for the first time. This recital took place in Brussels, just a stone's throw from the current location of the mim, in the context of the Belgian National Exhibition of Industrial Products.

www.mim.be

The oldest saxophone in the world confied to the mim! | the mim, musical instruments museum

The oldest preserved saxophone known to this day - an instrument with exceptional historical value - will be exhibited after cleaning from October 2020 as the showpiece of the existing sax collection. The oldest preserved saxophone known to this day will

mim.be

Here's a problem: I don't know if it's really the oldest or just has the earliest serial number.

Several years back, I found an article on the oldest saxophone, also a baritone, with the serial 4634. It looks older, IMO, especially the C and Eb. However, the low B design on 4634 was what was on all later A. Sax instruments.

I should try to hunt down pics of the other early horns known to exist: 5111 (probably bari), 5116 (bari), and 5140 (bari).

 

[pete]

I think I've found Charles Fontaine ...

 

[Groovekiller]

You have a good point, especially about the low B mechanism. It appears to be similar to the low B on bari saxes from the late 1800s, suggesting that it is a much newer horn. However, it does have a large bell like the earliest saxes, and Sax was constantly experimenting, so anything is possible.