Thibouville-Lamy Legion O’ Honneur Clarinet

[jhentracks@gmail.com]

My hobby is buying used woodwinds and fixing them up to sell on Reverb.I'm an old sax and clarinet player. I try to only buy quality brands mostly student models. Once in awhile I come across instruments  I just have to buy just to see them and play them. I ended up buying a Thibouville-Lamy Legion O' Honneur clarinet that was advertised as a Magic Flute! As soon as I got it I had to clean it up enough to try out. Wow! Unreal! What a voice! It had been meticulously maintained and was a pleasure to play. The wood is so tight that a friend mistook it for plastic at first glance.The bell also says "1 ARE with the ar underlined, and Paris. Also JTL, serial number is 4880. Right now I have several different horns that I couldn't resist but I am 77 years old and when I croak my heirs will probably just donate or dump them.Someone who will appreciate them needs to get them. Please look at the pictures and make suggestions as to what I should do with this clarinet. It's probably early 1900s. Value, sell it here and not Reverb? I only seem to load one picture. If anyone is interested I'll try to load more.

[Windsong]

Welcome to the forum, and thank you for sharing your story.  Clarinets are very addictive, indeed, and what a beautiful addiction. 

That horn is very nice.  The keywork and adornments would indictate an approximate date range a bit ahead of the turn of the last century.  I would research when the first nickel capped tenons began to see use, and that may narrow things down a bit, and affirm any suspicions.