I think this flute was found on a shipwreck! It must have been under water for a few years. Now f they had only used almond oil and added a little vitamin C? 
Ouch!!! Was this one on eBay??? Iāve seen it somewhere else very recently and remember being horrified.
It might have been used for a dibber in the vegetable patch! 
Cass.
OMG!
Is it yours? Will you try to restore it?
If Keith Richards owned a flute, thatād be it!
Itās on eBay currently, and I agree with Jon, it looks to have been underwater for a significant length of time (got my Archaeology hat on now) - hence the leached out colour and grain shrinkage of the timber and the encrustation of the silver. No oiling regime could have saved it if it was drowned. Shipwreck recovery indeed seems likely. Looks as though it was a tidy instrument originally - London 1820s-50s by the style - nice engraving detail on the ferrules etc. Note that the metal ferrules have split, not (so far as can be seen) the timber - which is consistent with water immersion, which would have caused the timber to swell and pressurise the ferrules at their soldered joins, which may have been weakened by electrolytic and other leaching of the actual solder. I wonder if there are any hallmarks on the silver. Mmmmm, on further perusal, there may be a split of the head, full length, just rearwards of the front side of the embouchure, and the liner tube is slightly out of place - probably glue dissolved away and it moved when they pulled the cork out. I wonder if the possible crack happened before drowning or during.
It actually looks in quite good nick apart from the effects of long-term water immersion! Only the crown is missing. I doubt it would be restorable to playing condition, though! I wonder what the wood actually feels like and how hard it is after its ordeal - drying out after long immersion could leave it rather crumbly if not conserved appropriately. The internal bore surface is probably in similar condition to the outer surface. Fascinating! The flute equivalent of a Bog Body???
Ha Ha! Think Iāve seen better looking bog bodies!!
Cass. 
I may get it just for the challenge! Not much left of it though. Cocuswood is pretty tough stuff, but 100 years in the ocean can do some damage!
The Head joint looks almost serviceable, but that upper section is like drift wood. Kind of wonder if part of the flute was protected in a case when the ship went down?
The key work looks to be Alexander Liddleās. I wonder if you would find a _AL_under the C# touch. I have a flute very similar to this, with the same rings and keys.
Could you take a photo of it to show us how that poor old flute might have looked before the ship sank?
I canāt see itā¦was there a link that has since been removed? 
Edited to add:
Oh, NOW I see it, after switching to a different computer. Interesting!
Jon, you should have posted that on the Flute Photo thread under an alias, then brag on how you had to sit on some makerās waiting list for five years to get it.
Five years? Youād have to live very hard for a mere five years to justify such degradation!
Hang on, Iām getting muddled here. We were talking about the flute, yeah?
Hi,
All I could find was a photo of the foot joint, that is Andrew Kirbyās hand in the other photo BTW. My camera is packed up for my vacation in the desert, or I swould take another photo.
ou can see the C#/C āflagā touches, the squared off blocks, and the round plates, the rings look similar also. This was one of the first 8 key English flutes, I bought. It was corroded also, pitted nickel silver, and the brass springs had corroded off. The wood is in perfect condition, but for some reason, I still havenāt got the flute playing, and it has been over 2 years! 
Also looks similar to the Blackman flute that I have. Except for all the extra hardwareā¦
Or maybe Daivās Gisborne?
Opps! That isnāt his, this is his flute with the Blackman:
Well maybe these flag keys were quite popularā¦ 
Like I said, London 2nd quarter C19th! The design of the foot keys is also very comparable to R&R, except I believe (David M?) they only used the simple over-lapping C/C# on earlier models and circular (rather than square) plates for the pewter plugs on later ones, so unlikely to be found together? The Eb keys and the block-cutting, the plug sections of the grasshopper keys and the lever-arms are incredibly similar on all these flutes - bringing back to mind an old Woodenflute thread about how C19th London makers sourced their silverware. One has to suspect that there were a couple of specialist silver workers churning out keys for just about everyone! Similarities of block cutting could well be pre-defined by the configuration of cast keys readily available, once the basic design had settled down - easier and cheaper to change the woodwork than the key-moulds, even if metalwork done in-house.
I thought that was a picture of Keith Richards! OHH!
The circular plates were found on the Rudall Carte models in the 6000 range. But they were using interlocking keys by then. You are probably right about the key makers, but the blocks woould be more of a telltale. I would like to know which make made his flutes with the Eb cutting into the C# touch? This has the overlapping keys not interlocking and they overhang the Eb key. I have seen R&R like this, but also Fentumās and a flute made by Cramer that I am working on. I suspect that it was Wylde, but do not know.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=180150695696&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=008
Flute went for 109 pounds! ($221)!!! Maybe I should soak some of my junker flutes in the ocean for a year and then sell them on eBay?
Come on, fess up who bought it? The buyer is in Ireland, so maybe it was Harry? (to go with the toilet seat ringsā¦)
Careful Jonā¦you might be the guy contracted to restore that flute! If I had the money and desire to buy it you would be my go-to guy!