This is a beautiful 19th century 6-key flute in boxwood. It has had many repairs for cracks in its long life, but these have all been professionally done, especially the unlined headjoint which has been expertly pinned and glued. The repairs are all stable and do not show any signs of weakness or impair the sound of the instrument . The embouchure hole is not marred in any way.
2 of the rings are replacements, one looks as if it is from a Goulding flute, and the other appears to be gold, maybe a gold finger ring! The other rings appear to be original, and, like the keys, appear to be silver. The keys and pads work well, and seal the holes well.
I think the flute plays at what is known as British High Pitch, sort of in between Eflat and D when all the open holes are covered.
That said, it has a beautiful mellow tone, which can be “pushed” to give a bit of a bark, with a good focused embouchure, or can play softly, a bit like a baroque traverso.
I think the flute was well loved by its previous owners, enough to spend a good amount of money on its repairs.
There is no wooden case, but it will be securely packed in a Boehm case for postage.
Inspection welcome, and a video to follow.
Photos on Ebay under 19th Century vintage six-key boxwood flute.
Thanks