I was told about this by a friend. It’s posted for sale in Ireland. I can send the contact information.
For Sale: Rudall Rose 8-key timber flute
This is one of the very best Rudall Rose flutes that I have ever played. It is number 4921, which puts the date of manufacture in the mid-1840s. The heart-joint is marked “Quadrefoil / Rudall & Rose / #1 Tavistock Street / Covent Garden / London / Quadrefoil / 4921.” The flute is marked on every joint. It is a medium-holed flute. It is in excellent tune at A=440, with the head-joint pulled out about 3/8”. The sounding length is 577mm.The flute has great volume and easily holds its own in a session with pipes and accordions. It has astonishing power and is very easy to fill. It is a delight to play.
The flute is made from flawless cocus wood, with sterling silver keys and rings. The embouchure is crisp and clean. The joints are threaded for a good fit and the keys seal well. There was a hairline crack in the head-joint. Patrick Olwell removed the tube, reamed the wood, glued the crack closed, replaced the tube and refinished the HJ. The crack is now impossible to find. I only know that there had been one because he told me that he made the restoration. The barrel has never cracked. There was a slight hair-line crack at the center socket which has also been professionally repaired by Patrick Olwell and which is now stable and nearly invisible. The flute is in excellent condition.
The flute travels in a lovely little period mahogany case. Unfortunately the case is not in as good condition as the flute. It has two strips of leather acting as hinges. They are adequate but there is no latch. The case has been cracked and repaired several times over the years. It is pretty and it is functional but it is not as good as the flute it holds.
If the flute doesn’t sell at €4,400 then it will be sold on Ebay. Old Rudalls, especially those that play in tune at A=440, are increasingly rare. There are no issues with this flute. It is a wonderful instrument.
Henry Wylde made flutes for Rudall & Rose – either in their employ or as an outside source – so it would be no surprise if a Rudall & Rose flute bore some resemblance to a Wylde. But what is it about this flute, that you think is like a Wylde, that would not be true of nearly every Rudall Rose of this period?
The flute is clearly a Rudall Rose and is so marked, with age-appropriate stamps. It is also rather late to have been made by Wylde in the Rudall & Rose workshop. I can’t find anything that would indicate Wylde’s involvement with Rudall & Rose extended past the 1830s - though nothing the other way either, that would indicate that he wasn’t involved with them in some way.
It is a spectacular player, as has been attested by several fine fluters and flute-makers. It has been said that this is the period when we see the best flutes coming from the Rudall & Rose workshop.
Just us cheapie Wylde owners (or past owners) having their say. Too rich for my blood. Mine has round plates to receive the pewter plugs, Aanvil’s are square, like the R&R listed.
Having played and measured marked Rudall and Wylde from the same period I tend to find myself leaning towards the of what Tom is getting at in the mid part of his post.
I can’t find anything that would indicate Wylde’s involvement with Rudall & Rose extended past the 1830s - though nothing the other way either, that would indicate that he wasn’t involved with them in some way.
While absence of documentation that HW was contracted after 1835 to supply R&R with flute is an issue (well I don’t know of any) we still have the flutes for comparison and compare they do. Something was going on back then and you don’t pull superior flutes or superior craftsman out of thin air.
I’m sure someone will come along and tell me how wrong I am.
I have no doubt that 4921 Tom is offering is a wonderful instrument.
Hi Tom,
This is just a old disscusion that you fell into. The tell-tale Wylde indicators for me, would be the embouchure hole, the cut away, of the C# key, for the Eb key cup. Does the C# have the I.N. stamp under the key touch? I am working on Ted’s previously owned Wylde, at the moment, so I have a good example right in front of me.
You are right, these flutes are real nice, maybe I should knock off a bank..
Hi Tom
Does the flute belong to you? If so you certainly have some very nice instruments. That 6 key Cocus Olwell you sold a little earlier was another stunner!
You don’t happen to have some connection to David Levine (AKA “Cocusflute” do you?)
It certainly would explain a lot
Just picking up on the Wylde element of this thread, I have (awaiting restoration and planning to keep it for my own use) a Rudall Carte & Co. piccolo #1783. Together with some other RC&Co. instruments I was researching I made enquiries about it of Dr. Robert Bigio earlier this year (he holds the extant RC records). He was able to tell me the following from the workshop record book: “D piccolo 1783: 15 September 1886. Cocoa [as cocuswood was called then], 6 GS keys on knobs. Made by Wylde.” I assume but don’t know for sure that this must be the same Wylde. (This is very late for a block-mounted instrument too!) I would also refer you all to the relevant page of David Migoya’s R&R Catalogue - Wylde made flutes for them at least to 1888… and that IS documented fact.
Regarding stamps on keys, I also have awaiting restoration a “Wylde from R&R” flute (long F key missing) that has an “F” stamped on the underside of the low C# key-touch (which is a squared, inset overlap type, not a “claw” nor a plain “hockey stick overlap”: no other key appears to bear any stamp, though they have not been cleaned yet… It also has round receiving plates for the two pewter plugs on the foot. My own R&R Patent Head #4683 (which of course bears the same family resemblance to the flute for sale in this thread - and I would say more closely than the Wylde I have) has stamps on the G# and Bb keys only which appear to be an “R” with possibly a “J” in front of them over-lapped or elided onto the same main stem ???
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