In 1806, the Parisian watchmaker Claude Laurent received a patent for un flute en cristal. The patent claims that “the inventor has discovered that glass is a proper material, as it gives sounds of the sweetness and purity desired, and also renders the tones invariable, and makes the instrument convenient and easy to play.” Laurent exhibited his first glass flute in 1806 in Paris, and stayed in business until 1848, when he was succeeded by J. D. Breton, who made flutes of wood and of glass until 1874. Glass flutes were beautiful to look at and reliable instruments, but, according to Dayton Miller (“Flutes of Glass,” The Flutist, v. 6, no. 7, 1925, pp. 151–155) not exceptional in their tone quality. Thus, they were not aimed for professional performance, but rather for representational purposes. The flute recently acquired by the Corning Museum was made for Charles Ferdinand Artois, Duc de Berry (1757–1836), the second son of King Charles X of France. It is engraved with Artois' coat of arms.