Breton Brevete - Top Removal

In order to fix the cracks and re-glue the tail block, the top had to be removed.  This was achieved with gentle heat and a seam separation knife.

Having removed the top I was expecting to see a JTL stamp somewhere inside as many of the instruments from the Jérôme Thibouville-Lamy workshops bore such a mark.  However there is no sign of one on this instrument - perhaps suggesting that this is either an early JTL model, or possibly from another Mirecourt maker that also used the Breton Brevete name.

Considering the history of this instrument, the top is actually in surprisingly good condition.  The centre seam remains sound with no sign of cracking and the bass bar is sound.  There are however 3 cracks through the top as shown below.