French-modified Boehm flutes

Unlike his conical flute of 1832, Boehm did patent the cylindrical flute of 1847 in France and England, licensing its production to Godfroy & Lot in Paris and Rudall & Rose in London.

French makers modified the mechanism and tone of the the new flute, which became the Paris Conservatoire's official flute when Louis Dorus succeeded Jean-Louis Tulou in 1860. At about the same time silver flutes became more popular than wood ones among Parisian players. Thus the metal cylindrical Boehm flute as modified by the French makers became the standard flute of the French Flute School, which became highly influential in the early 20th century. Louis Lot, as the Conservatoire's official supplier of flutes, became the most famous maker, but others including Auguste Bonneville (fl 1876- p1950), Claude Rive (fl 1877-p1895), Louis L�on Joseph Lebret (1862-p1928), and J. Daufresne (fl p1880-p1914) were also noted for professional-quality flutes.

Modern flutes

Chapter 11, 'The French Flute School', of Ardal Powell's The Flute (Yale University Press, 2002) contains more information on this topic.