Pierre-Louis Gautrot

Pierre-Louis Gautrot (1 March 1812, Auteuil, Paris – 18 November 1882, Paris) was a French inventor and manufacturer of brass and woodwind instruments.

Biography

Pierre-Louis Gautrot was born on 1 March 1812 in Auteuil, Paris and began making musical instruments at a young age, in his home in 1827. In the same year, his future brother-in-law Jean Auguste Guichard (1804–1884) began producing musical instruments with industrial production line processes and 210 workers. Gautrot started working with Guichard, developing the company's international business activities. Guichard's company won a gold medal at the French Industrial Exposition of 1844 for their hand horn and cornet.

He started selling cheaper instruments to increase his market. The case ended in 1867 with Gautrot's conviction to pay 500,000 francs of damages to Sax.

In 1851, his musical instrument factory was established at 60 rue Saint-Louis in Paris. In 1855, to expand, he bought land and a factory at Château-Thierry, where most of his musical instruments were to be manufactured. In 1857, he bought the flute manufacturer Jean-Louis Tulou, and built a second instrument factory in Château-Thierry. He modernised the company's use of steam-powered machinery.

In 1865, Jean-Baptiste Couesnon came to work for Gautrot. and "Gautrot Breveté / à Paris" for the cheaper second choice instruments. Trademarks were also filed for woodwind instruments and cymbals. In 1877, he added his son-in-law Léon Durand's name to the company, becoming "Gautrot aîné-Durand". In 1999, it was purchased by PGM to form PGM Couesnon.