Good Afternoon,
I’m an Americana collector and I recently acquired this unusually heavy brass whistle and would love help identifying the maker.
It is a one-piece brass-bodied whistle with six finger holes and is hand engraved “F” on the body. Near the head, it is also marked with a hand-cut “M” over the number “7.” The mouthpiece contains a wooden block secured through the brass body with a small peened brass pin or rivet. The window and surrounding areas show what appear to be hand filing and finishing marks.
This is substantially heavier and more robustly made than the mass-produced brass whistles I’ve handled. I have three other heavy brass whistles with related hand-engraved markings, including another marked M with soldered 1980 penny on its face, so I suspect these may be the work of the same small maker or workshop.
Does anyone recognize:
The M / 7 marking
This pinned wooden-block mouthpiece construction
A maker known for heavy, one-piece brass low whistles
I am not assuming any particular maker and would be grateful for comparisons to documented examples. I can provide exact length, diameter, weight, additional head photographs, and pictures of the related whistles.
Thanks for any leads.
It would be very useful to have more shots of the head and body of the whistle, there are some telltale signs of certain makers that might narrow things down a bit. Your description does not bring anyone to my mind, but I am also far from the most learned on this forum!
Absolutely! The forum would only allow one photo because I’m new. Let’s see if I’m out of newbie jail! I appreciate the reply.
I like your new whistle, C_A, it sure has character! It’s a bit too on the cobbled side to tell if any major whistle maker was responsible for it, though marking it M7 seems to imply it was his seventh attempt, and he wasn’t taking the time to finesse it for mass marketing. But if the design works, it might have been the forerunner to something like a Chieftain Gold, which has a similar looking head on it. Does it play well, or not so well? It looks like covering the last hole might be a problem for some, depending on the diameter of the pipe. That would be interesting to know, what is the OD on it?
Or it could have been a crude copy of a Chieftain, from someone wanting one of their own, without the cash investment just as easily, at this stage of development. Did you run it by Phil Hardy from Kerry Whistles? I’m sure he’s seen similar, if not his own. Though the use of the wood for the block is of course different than Phil’s all metal design, but an easier choice, and the angle of the cut is simplified as well for the underside of the fipple, which really is a departure to the Chieftains’ elongated one.
It might even be a knock-off from India or Pakistan. India is well known for their brass work and also for making whistles/flutes too. Either way, it’s a nice looking one, and I’d like to hear its voice. It looks like it could have a good tone to it, if the execution was good on the windway and blade matchup, since it’s very close to the Chieftain window size and head shape. I like how the upper side of the fipple was flat filed to give it a texture instead of being polished. Nice touch!
Keep us posted, if you do get an answer from Phil! And enjoy it, if it is playable!
There’s something very similar on ebay. Several actually. And it appears it’s the OP looking for silly money.
OP here. I have them listed high(ish) on purpose while I’m trying to figure out what they are. I have recently purchased a giant lot of woodwind instruments and have been researching as meticulously as possible so I can price and list correctly, including reaching out to musical instrument experts and manufacturers in the US and England when it’s unclear from the actual instrument itself. Sometimes the market response is how one comes to understand a mysterious object. I don’t see solid brass whistles of this type anywhere. They are considerably heavier (and for the most part substantially longer) than any of the others I have, either vintage/antique or modern. I am not a musician, but my husband comes from a long line of jazz musicians who play all types of instruments so he has helped evaluate keys and playability. I do not want to sell someone something that is not functional and you’ll note that I take extensive notes on condition and provide many photographs for buyers to evaluate. I appreciate the feedback and will keep in mind that these are likely priced too high.
