During the first half of the 20th century, interest in early instruments rose, and scholars began performing on "original instruments". However, extant examples were few, and some of those instruments in museums were not in playable condition. Builders and repairers of standard orchestral instruments aided the movement by altering modern designs or converting their standard models to valveless status. In Vienna, instruments had remained much as they were at the time of Schubert, so very little converting was needed to create an authentic sounding instrument for historic performances. The present natural horn by Dehmal represents such an effort. The workmanship was superb, with a garlanded, gusseted, hand-hammered bell. The horn has only one crook in F, but other crooks for the keys of E, Eb, D, and C can be made. The E, Eb, and D crooks would cost, currently, $230 each, while the C crook (double coiled) would run $450. The horn shows a history of repair, and some dents remain, which would have required disassembly to remove. Please review the photographs carefully; this is an old horn that has had repairs.The playability seems to be unaffected, however, and the antiquity manifest in repaired metal tells its own wonderful tale. The modest price reflects that condition. As it is, the horn plays very well. Pitch is good, and it plays at A440 with the slide pushed home. It accepts a mosern mouthpiece shank. Any of the mouthpieces though of as deep will work well and facilitate the matching of open and stopped sounds. The maker's name is handsomely engraved on the garland (kranz). The horn is brass, but there is some German Silver trim, including the garland. Those persons interested in natural horn, but having limited resources will find this horn to be a good choice, based on tone, playability, and historicity. Happy bidding!