Keys marked C

The C# touch on my Geo Rudall, Willis Fecit flute is neatly stamped with a capital C.

Keys marked F C and C# foot keys from an unmarked flute resembling a Wylde.  Note the F mark under one touch, and the four slashes on both shafts. F also appears under the keys of a flute by Blackman, London, currently in my possession.

Keys marked Fs

Jem Hammond reports "Fs" on the low C# and high C keys of a Clementi flute which bears F stamps on some other keys.

Keys marked H Jem Hammond reports a key from a Hawkes and Son Bb band flute with the letter H.

Keys Marked H&L Jem Hammond reported a Fentum with what appeared to be H&I stamped on most of its keys, but F on the Eb key. Note again the coexistence of numerical and initial markings.
But Jem has come back with more information.  Another Fentum shows that the letters are really H&L. Interesting too the keys on the two flutes seem to have come from different key-makers.  The markings are "F" on the Bb and G# keys, "H&L" on the low C# and "I.N" on the short F.   In the previous set, the F was on the Eb key. We can also see "///" workshop slashes on the foot key shanks.

So, who fits the initials H&L?  Possibilities would have to include Haite & Leach, listed briefly between 1852 and 1855 as woodwind and brass instrument makers.  They seem mostly involved with clarinets, but may have had a less public life in keymaking.

Keys marked H S or H·S Jem Hammond reports finding keys crudely marked H S on both a Hawkes & Son and a Butler flute.

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Keys marked "I·F"

Once again a mark under the C# foot key, once more the period up at waist level like a decimal point.  Daryl King provided us with the image shown. Is it possible that this is a fuller version of the "F" discussed above? Again the I could be a J.  There are no London flutemakers with initials I.F., but there are a few with J.F.

Keys marked IH

Nobody has supplied any images of IH markings yet, but we should be on the lookout for them.  Reputed (in the NLI) to be the mark for John Hale, London, 1785-1804, which puts him considerably earlier than most of the flutemakers we deal with in this site. 

Montreal maker Boaz Berney reports seeing IH on flutes by Cahusac and Collier, and quotes Ardal Powell in regard to flutes marked Florio and Gedney.  The IH mark is allegedly found on flutes by Astor, Kusder, G. Miller, Proser, while Hale's own flutes were sold by Goulding & Co.

Keys marked "I·N"

The New Langwill Index doesn't list any maker that fits into the initials I.N. - a plausible suggestion is that I.N. was a silversmith keymaker and not a flute maker.  "I" often stands for "J" - eg the mark I·HALE for John Hale - but still no one obvious with those initials.

It may occur to you that it could be N·I rather than I·N, however note that the letter N in Times Roman has no seraph at the bottom of the oblique line.  

Ciarán Somers reports the example below, on a flute stamped "George & Manby".  Again, the NLI makes no reference to George or Manby.  Ciarán reports having seen the inscription on flutes by Rudall & Rose, and seeing a Rudall & Rose also stamped George & Manby.  It is possible that they were a music dealership in Fleet Street. 

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Keys marked M

This C# key touch bears a neatly marked M - the flute itself marked Butler, Dublin, but in a curiously unsophisticated manner!  Thanks to Lawrence Mallette.

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Keys marked N

Only one reported so far.  Jem Hammond advises:

Paine & Hopkins 9-key (B foot) concert flute #54 (Flute stamped "Paine & Hopkins, 69 Cornmill, London" - P&H were music publishers and flute dealers, not clear if actual makers, and at that address 1821-37) - "N" on long C key - only stamped key.

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Keys marked "R" or "RR" Rudall & Rose were the most prestigious makers in the first half of the 19th century.  In most cases, as far as we know, the underside of their keys were not marked.   I'm indebted to Lawrence Mallette for the image shown of the underside of three keys from his RR no 4256.  Assuming the same stamp was used for each (but not totally successfully aligned) the stamp is RR. Jem Hammond also reports a Rudall Rose flute with keys marked in a single R, but possibly preceded by another letter.

Flute Brand	Key Mark	Owned/Reported by:
Rudall & Rose	RR	Lawrence Mallette
"	R or ?R	Jem Hammond

An interesting question arises - were these:

• stamped by Rudall & Rose, 

• stamped by an independent key-maker as being for Rudall & Rose, or 

• stamped by an independent flute-maker as being for Rudall & Rose?

And, in any case, why were the other keys not similarly stamped?

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Another form of RR?

Bob Perron mentions an RR stamp which doesn't sound the same as the ones above, in two respects: He describes it as "Under 4x magnification, the mark looks like an offset double-strike of an R, much like the old Rolls-Royce logo, only much more crowded." Secondly, he describes the flute as: "Apparently of French manufacture, but sold in England under the dealer's Mark 'Douglas & Co'."

Douglas & Co are listed in the NLI as Musical Instrument dealers in London, late 19th early 20th century.

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Keys marked "T"? Jem Hammond came across this mark under a key on a flute by Fentum.  Under cross-examination, Jem adds: "Well, I can't honestly totally rule out it being a scruffy F, but I don't think what shows matches our known Fs too well. Also I can see what appears to be the only lightly struck, symmetrical R-hand half of the top of the T. I wouldn't stake too much on it, but I think it's worth listing as a ?T with appropriate caveats."  So, be warned!

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Keys marked "WYLDE" Neatly stamped, image provided by Rob Sharer. The NLI advises that Henry Wylde flourished London 1832 - 82.  He was earlier with Rudall & Rose, and is listed from 1835 as a Flute Maker.

 

Flute Brand	Owned/Reported by:
Pask	Terry McGee
Simpson	Jem Hammond
Wylde / From Rudall and Rose	Rob Sharer

So the question here is - did Wylde make the flute or just the keys?  And notice that Wylde appears in the entry on I.N, but this time as the maker, not the marking!

Flute Key Makers

Were there other flute key makers?  A Google search gives these hits:

• Lloyd, flute key maker, 2 Broadway, Westminster, (Insurance Policy, 1832)

• JANE LLOYD: I live at No. 9, Plumtree-court, my husband is a flute-key maker. (Old Bailey, 1819)  Conceivably the same family as above.

• Richard ARNOTT b. ca 1803 London (a native of St Lukes, at some point) - had a wife Sarah, when convicted and transported to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) in 1827.  Flute key maker, and later a chairmaker.  (From a genealogy site).

• Mrs Cook.  From the trial of William Camp we glean this tidbit:----JENKINSON. I am in the employ of Mrs. Cook, of Vauxhall—she makes silver keys for the prosecutor (Rose) —I made these four keys.

So far, we cannot link any of these to keys, other than to wonder if C in the Geo Rudall, Willis Fecit flute could be Mrs Cook.  If she made keys for Willis while he was making Rudall's flutes, Rudall is quite likely to have mentioned her to Rose when he joined him.

None of these names show up in the NLI as makers.  It is good to establish that flute key making was an activity carried out in isolation as well as in association with flute making.

Keymarks used, listed by Flute Brand

Did any flute brands use keys by more than than one maker?  This can best be answered by rejigging the data as in this table. 

I've highlighted flute makers who are reasonably likely to also have been their own keymakers.  Don't rely on that yet until we see a lot more data.

Note that suddenly we are interested in the keymarks on unstamped flutes, as, with the rest of the data beginning to fall into place, it might give us an idea of who made the unstamped flutes.

The question also arises did any of these brands sometimes have no stamps under the keys?  We should note that too.

Hallmarks

I haven't included any Hallmarks in this account, at least at this stage.  We may come back to that if we find useful examples.  Some makers were renowned for them, for example Monzani & Hill, see Rick Wilson's Monzani page.

Conclusions

A bit too early to jump to any conclusions - we're going to have to assemble a lot more data.  So pop those pesky keys off your old flute and look underneath, and let us know what you find.  My thanks to those above who did!

Related pages

Numerical Key Marks
Alexander Liddle

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Created:  Aug 2004