Is this a simple system flute?
Not as simple as some, but yes. Long F, short F, Boehm-style linkage for the extended foot keys. Even has what appears to be an F# key. At the top end, RH1 fingered keys for the Bb, C and beyond.
The fact that the flute has six open holes without keys makes it a simple-system flute, IMO.
Sure it is. Aren’t the holes a bit bigger than the average French flute? Maybe because Americans were more torwards middle size holes?
I like this kind of B foot..
Mmm. Nice looking flute. Yes, it’s the fully developed Tulou type (see Rick Wilson’s website - the section on French flutes), and is most likely at Low Pitch (c 430 Hz) for the American market. Should be an excellent player once restored - just that old pitch issue!
Is that rosewood? Looks like ebony to me.
Would not be ebony - not used by flute makers in the late c19th/early c20th. Blackwood, possibly, but even though those photos are ill-lit, one can see the smooth finish and chestnut/chocolate red-brown that is distinctively cocus. The French would doubtless call it “palisandre”, however.
You’ve got good eyes, Jem! Thanks. BTW, the person who sold me my decidedly cocus Thibouville described it as (in French) “portuguese ebony.” But in this case I was thinking of the regular black stuff. Didn’t the Germans use black ebony right up until metal flutes came into fashion? Maybe I’m wrong about that too. Glad you generously share your knowledge.
In french, the correct naming for cocus is “ebene de la jamaique”, what means Jamaica ebony.