An interesting German flute

An interesting German (?) flute

Perhaps you can help identify the flute below, or at least suggest a country of origin. There is some lettering visible on it, but not clear enough to make an identification. There is however a maker's mark.

Four 6-pointed stars appear on the upper body, two on the lower body and one on the foot, just below the Eb key plate. As can be seen, stars may not be the best description. Perhaps asterisks or snowflakes? Note also the somewhat irregular spacing.

About the flute

The flute itself is ebony, with ivory mounts, brass tuning slide and nine silver keys.

Note the G# key is mounted below the break between the left and right hand sections.

Note also the additional key on the upper section, probably a D trill. This key is strangely placed - equally inconvenient to thumb and first-finger, so perhaps intended to be operated by either?

Perhaps the most intriguing feature relates to how the leather pads are secured to the key-plates. As you can see on the left, they are sewn! Presumably fine adjustment of pad seating was achieved by bending the thin metal of the shaft.

The embouchure

The "TV-shaped" embouchure hole is an interesting and conspicuous feature. It's about 9.55mm wide from left to right, narrowing to around 9 near the corners. From front to back, it's about 9.2mm, narrowing to around 8.4mm near the corners. The corners are rounded a little.

Left undercutting is about 1.1mm, right 2.1mm, front and back around 1 mm. The walls are not quite straight, but suggest a primary and secondary taper, particularly on the sides. The metal slide is cut well further back on all but the left (stopper) edge.

Finger holes

The finger holes are interesting too. Undercutting is hardly the word - these holes have been undergouged! The undercutting along the length of the flute is normal if extensive, but across the flute, they have been scooped out vigorously, leaving a concavity on each side.

Dimensions

These dimensions (in mm) may assist us to identify a match:

Head:
Length of head (including rings) Protrusion of slide Embouchure centre to lower end of head Head bore Outside diameter at the embouchure .	141 35.6 75 19.4 29.3

Upper body:
Upper tenon Between tenons Lower tenon Bore at top Bore at lower end		25.3 155.5 21.3 18 15
	Diameter	From top
Hole 1 Hole 2 Hole 3	6.4 6.5 5.7	99 135 170

Lower body
Top to start of tenon Lower tenon Bore at bottom		137 17 12
	Diameter	From top
Hole 4 Hole 5 Hole 6	6.05 5.85 5.1	47.3 82.2 118.2

Tuning

As you can see, it's not currently playable, so tuning is a bit of a guess. We can expect it to perform best somewhere around 425Hz.

If you can help with suggestions as to who the maker might be, or any similarities you've seen with other flutes, please contact me.

Back to the McGee Flutes Index Page

Barrel:
Protrusion of slide Length of barrel body	21.7 62.4