Beautiful whistle. There’s an Italian saying: “l’occhio vuole la sua parte” - the eye must have its way. The previous thread about it was pretty funny.
BTW, panceltic - that looks more like a casting to me, but I may well be wrong.
Denny’s link to the previous (10 year old) discussion must have saved a lot of wordy submissions this time around, as it seemed to cover the full gamut of opinions.
Thanks, too, to Loren and Panceltic for their absorbing links to examples of real craftsmanship. I’m a fan of engraving art, and I’ve seen sets of pipes raised from “quality” to “exquisite” by its use. For me though, as for many, art is about feeling. Something inside (couldn’t decide between “heart” and “gut”) recognises engraving and highland pipes as going well together, but doesn’t find the same complementary relationship between engraving and the simple whistle. Feelings are personal, I know, so to those who feel differently - Vivre la difference!
One positive consequence of this thread has been that I now turn to my old (plain, unembellished) Copeland D more often for practice. However, I now take a moment or two before playing just to handle and admire it as a thing of beauty. I’ve even considered polishing it. Mercifully, the quality of music I produce is off topic!
To me, this whistle is already a thing of beauty by virtue of the sounds it is capable of producing, but simplicity of form can have a beauty all its own.
I thought the peacock was beautiful until I saw a swan.
Not cast, engraved. Cast mounts look quite different.
Interesting, the one in the picture with the dragon heads, does indeed appear to me as well to be cast, not engraved. For example: It has mostly rounded, very soft edges, or often incomplete chipped looking edges - both very characteristic of casting.
That was what I was noticing too. Which takes nothing away from it being a very nice piece of work, of course.
Let’s see. How would that work?
To be cast, there would have to be an original to use for a pattern, a mold made from the original and then a wax copy made, or the entire fitting would have to be made from scratch, including the engraving, in wax and then cast by the lost wax method.
I see the soft edges, but I don’t believe they’re from casting. The fitting is sixty years old. It may have been polished a time or two (or fifty), or it may just have been used a lot and shows surface wear from handling. If the information is available, I would be interested in knowing what metal it is.
Best wishes,
Jerry
If pancelticpiper says it’s engraved, that’s good enough for me!
$1470 US, and it’s never even left the earth’s atmosphere. I hope it’s a good-un. 
from $750 a decade ago 
Just think of all those chumps who invested in housing instead of whistles. 
The only way to do better apparently would have been to have ordered Gold Copelands.
the view is nice…and I like the woods 
Housing values went down so whistles could go up (its the shifting sands thang), or as the artworld/musicworld would have it… art is up http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57407319/even-in-tough-times-contemporary-art-sells/?tag=contentMain;cbsCarousel
I just wonder what Michael Copeland thinks… about E-bay
No need to wonder. He sells his whistles on eBay now.
“bidding vs established pricing”