Bass tuba

Tuba in CC. Besson Sovereign model 995, serial number 899581. Left facing bell. Brass with silver plating, missing in places. Incomplete instrument. Casings for four Périnet valves and one rotary valve, but all valves absent, as are all the tuning slides and the mouthpipe. Solder on the bell suggests that the mouthpipe has been fitted and then removed. Bell stamped: BESSON/LONDON/SOVERIEGN/BE995-899581; Pen markings appear at a number of places on the surface. Each of the valve loops has the valve number written beneath the tuning slide receiver. Flaws in the plating have been ringed in black, and a red arrow has been drawn across one of the unplated patches. A demonstration or practice model for instrument makers at B&H Watford plant to master the electro-plating process.