Unknown - - Flute - United Kingdom - 1900 (No reserve price)

Old six-key wooden piccolo of the classical simple-system type, with no maker’s mark or visible stamp, probably English-made (the side mouthpiece and craftsmanship correspond to the English tradition of conical-key flutes, highly prized in English and Irish flute bands).

Features:

System: 6 keys, conical ebony wood body (Diospyros genus)
Mouthpiece/embouchure (chanfrein) lined with metal — a mark of quality of English piccolos from the 19th to early 20th century
Metal-lined tone holes: reduced wear and improved intonation
Sounding length: 251 mm
Pitch: about 440 Hz (modern reference A = 440)
Comes with its original wooden case

Condition:
The piccolo is in playable condition. The barrel shows the inevitable hairline crack, commonly found on these instruments; it does not hinder playing. The photos are an integral part of the description — please examine carefully.

Context and reference:
This classic six-key piccolo is illustrated and studied in the acoustical works of J. H. Rindel (Acoustical aspects of the transverse flute from 1700 to present, Baltic-Nordic Acoustics Meeting, Oslo, 2021), where a comparable instrument appears on page 14 (fig. 16, no. 15: “classical piccolo, six keys, probably around 1900”). These simple-system piccolos remained manufactured and played until around 1900–1920; orchestral flutists continued in the 1920s to switch from the Boehm flute to a classic piccolo of this type (cf. P. Bate, The Flute, 1969).

A collectible instrument, also perfectly playable for traditional music practice (flute bands, English and Irish folk music).

Careful packing, well wrapped for shipment.