I’ve just put my T. Prowse, London, 8 key cocus flute (made around 1860) for sale on ebay.
I need the money for a piano!
Shane
hi shane, who made the restoring / the gold repainted ??
never seen something like this…
what about the flute tuning and pitch?
thank you
Hi, it was a professional restorer here in France. I showed him a picture of a Chris Wilkes flute and he noticed the engraving was painted in and asked me if I wanted that done on my Prowse and I said yes - since it looks very nice. He just followed the original engraving with a tiny paint-pen, colouring it in. Old flutes may have had the engraving painted in and the colour might just have come off over the 150 years. But in any case, Chris Wilke’s flutes have this and it looks very nice indeed.
As for tuning, its not bad at all. However, sometimes, on certain days, it has the same problems as with all pre-Boosey flutes: you have to lip the low notes to put them in tune. It is a D flute, no problem about that. Other than that, good tuning, nice intonation. Pitch : 440 with the tuning slide open a few milimetres.
And I should mention that the toe in the photo is not included.
Shane, those keys on your Prowse look (at a cursory glance) rather similar to some of those on some of the Fentums we’ve been looking at and also to the Keith-Prowse I did up last year… so, are there any stamps on 'em, and if so, can you take some pictures while you still have the flute, please?
BTW, regarding gilding of the lettering of the stamps on the wood, I haven’t seen any Chris Wilkes products so adorned, though I’m sure he could do it if asked to. It is certainly the sort of thing the Victorians might well have done, though I can’t recall seeing any “ordinary” English flutes with residual traces of it in their stamps. However, there are those tasty ivory Monzanis with all sorts of silver decoration, including in their stamps. I have seen French, Austro-German and Italian ones with gilded stamping, though.
Thanks Jem, regarding the gilding (that is indeed the word I was looking for, and I’ve just revised the wording of the Ebay description), look at Chris Wilkes’ site and the following flute photos and you’ll see the gilding: I thought that looked really nice, so when my restorer suggested it, I said yes.
http://wilkesflutes.co.uk/Site/Rudall%20types.html
As for the keys, I didn’t see any inscription. The keys are nickel silver; the underside of each key is unpolished and I cannot see any initials - they may be there, but I suspect not.
Shane
That’s it Rob, nice isn’t it? The very photo that inspired me to have the gilding done (or “redone” if indeed it ever was done; it may well have been). In any case, if the buyer does not like the gilding, it comes off easily and we’re back to the original.
I did mention, in the Ebay description, the repaired crack in the head: it does not go through the embouchure, but it goes the length of the head. It is well-repaired, though in the future might need a touch up again (as with most cracks I believe). I’ve genuinely tested it, and it does not leak as far as I can judge.
The Wilkes flutes are so beautiful looking it’s positively painful to view them.
regarding Wilkes’ work, have a look at this on his website, where he shows the machines he uses to decorate his flutes: gorgeous stuff. http://wilkesflutes.co.uk/Site/Engine%20lathe.html
This ebay clementi prowse today ended ad a fair price, crisis considering.
It looks to be a fair flute.
It seems to be restored some years ago: a repaired crack in the head, a new barrel, and new crown and pads.
the buyer is superb collector…he is on c&f too?
nice…it has all the “nicholson” stuff: LH excavation and RH flattened tone holes. Doesn’t have the excavation for RH thumb or the ivory bushing to the embouchure, but still a sweet looking flute…nice price, too.
I love mine.
actually it is not in the photos but there is…
I don’t see the flat right hand section in the photos; it looks round in fact…
Out of curiosity, what kind of music will the owner of a Clementi Nicholson play? How many of us play classical music on these old flutes? I know a few do, but that most of us play celtic (Irish, breton, etc.) music on them. Just curious.
here it is
aha!
with shark skin too! nice!
looks a tad chunky in the cut, but still very nice. Mine is sort of curved and slopey, not a cutout as this one seems.
well, then…only the ivory embouchure bushing is lacking (or did i miss that, too?) for it to be a full Nicholson. (though he hated the pewter plugs…preferring the cups)…and didn’t like the long-F key…sigh…so many differences.
my own has the long-F added on later, though likely done at the Clementi house based on the matching work of holes, keys and blocks.
what kind of music?
trad of course. The D is flat, but in my case, McGee made a very nice one-key modern foot that brings it very nicely into tune. The other tuning issues weren’t as pronounced.