Did the best composers in history thrive with flawed instruments?
Did you have any in mind. Non historical but thinking of the classic trumpet that existed at the time, it was a horn with no valves, similar in function and build to a modern bugle.
Brass is easy to work and a horn such as that could be hand beaten and rolled, then brazed together with a metal such as silver. I would imagine some templates and forms could be used for each specific range, as it would only have a few notes it could hit within the musical scale without modern valves. You can also do minor tuning to the pitch and tone by reshaping the bell.
I have no clue what the level of quality was, but I would hazard to say that it greatly varied. Still, the instrument is simple enough that a skilled craftsman could produce a high quality example with care, time, and trial and error.
Presumably you're referring to natural horns? That is, brass instruments with no valves?
There's actually a recent post in /r/DIY where a guy made a classic trumpet