Have a look at this eBay flute! It appears to be a quite ordinary “nach Meyer” type German flute - in a fancy metal jacket… Body armour? Can’t really call it a “straight-jacket” as it is designed to allow all appendages free movement. Presumably it is a crack-preventer or repairer, or is it just cosmetic? Whatever, it hasn’t prevented the long C key getting snapped nor the head and barrel from having the usual cracks. In fact, if you were going to have such a gadget, surely head and barrel would be the first places to add it. Body sections are far less prone to cracks, though the sockets (especially of the lower body/foot long section of a nach Meyer are pretty crack-prone). Perhaps it was for marching band sparkle - nicely polished up?
Anyway, the maker must have seen a need and expected to sell quite a few given the patent application and obviously non-unique production - it isn’t a one-off hand-made rough job! I wonder if there’d be any info via the US Patents records?
Yeah, the 3 lead, 5 bight turk’s head on the bone had to be a repair - pretty spiffy. It also looks to have a head crack through the embouchure hole, although the seller didn’t mention that. But some things about this are truly bizarre and mystifying.
Note that the upper body jacket is held together on the underside by three tightening bolts, and the lower body jacket by five of those. There are gaps on the underside to allow tightening or adjustment. Also a rather generous opening around each tone hole. That points toward something that could be added to various flutes, perhaps. But unless I’m mistaken, the post mounts for keys have to be either attached to the “jacket” or drilled through that and into the wood. So that points toward something made and fitted exactly to one flute design - or even one flute.
Like Jem said, this isn’t where you’d need protection, as evidenced by where it cracked (the usual places). Seeing this sort of thing could keep me up at night. It looks like steampunk gear - this might be played in a band at Dragon Con.
Now that I think about it, the Fischer name seems familiar…this is W. Fischer, but wasn’t there a New York based Carl Fischer company that made or imported many wooden flutes of German style?
Scotland’s flag is a saltire, right enough. But there are loads of saltires - eg Grenada, Jamaica and, of course, St Patrick’s saltire - associated with Ireland for many centuries, but controversial because adopted by the British ‘Order of St Patrick’ in the late 18c, and then incorporated in the Union Flag on top of St Andrew’s saltire (though “counterchanged” with it, in this case below at the pole and above at the fly).
