I’ve listed an anonymous wooden flute I bought from Patrick Olwell in 2007 on Ebay. He described it as “English” from 1810-1825 in the accompanying signed letter. I have little knowledge of early English flutes and cannot say if it resembles any known maker. Just that it is small holed, plays nicely and has a nice, albeit less than honking, tone.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=321200626101
It is truly presumptuous to question Mr. Olwell on any flute subject, but it looks like several American flutes I’ve seen and one that is currently in my possession (by E. Baack).
Good luck on the sale…very nice price if it plays anywhere near as nicely as the Baack.
Eric
Thanks for the good wishes. This flute showed up at a session in Northern Virginia and got passed around. Everyone liked it even if it was not exactly drowning out the Olwells which were numerous indeed. I decided to buy it a week or so later and drove down to Nellysford. Patrick was very generous in showing me some of his early flutes. I didn’t ask exactly how he determined it was English, but did ask him for a letter in case I should ever decide to sell it. Now that I’ve had some expenses I’m glad I did. I guess the only early American flutes I’m familiar with look quite different. Square keys, bulbous foots, etc. Interesting your flute is similar. Glad it is a good one.
Looks lovely. That’s an interesting looking short F key. I don’t think I’ve seen one like that before.