Interesting makers mark on antique piccolo

Irish Flute
1

I just started restoring an antique piccolo. It has a barely readable makers mark, even in good light with a magnifying glass.
I’ve included some extremely close-up pictures below so you can offer an opinion.

My take is that it has a four petal symbol, like some of the early Rudall & Rose flutes. I don’t see any mention of Rudall & Rose on it though.

The only lettering is on the tuning slide, and again on the body. In both cases it is accompanied by two of the four petal symbols. Its tricky to read, but I think it says:

H. WHITAKER
LONDON

H. Whitaker was known to be one of the Rudall & Rose flute makers. I find it interesting that he would use their four petal symbol on one of his own instruments.
I haven’t seen that done before. Maybe there just wasn’t room on a piccolo to fit the text “FROM RUDALL & ROSE”, which I have seen on full sized flutes, and this was a substitute for that?

Take a look and let me know what you think.

Thanks!

2

Don’t have much to add but here is a piccolo marked Ingram from Rudall and Rose
that sold on eBay:
http://irishpiccolo.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/ingram-from-rudall-and-rose-sold-on.html?m=1

3

You might want to delete the laptop spam from your comments section.

The New Langwill Index only has a notation that H. Whitaker’s mark was “H. Whitaker from Rudall & Rose”. Listed as an employee of Rudall & Rose, and not in his own right. The 4-petalled flower is part of the mark of Rudall & Rose, above & below as you show.

4

Firstly as a new member I would like to say a big hello to everybody here on the board. ( Formerly 2TOOTS )
This is certainly a very interesting find, as I have seen the occasional flute plainly stamped “Whitaker London” but this is the first H Whitaker I have seen with obvious Rudall & Rose heritage, namely the quatrefoil flower stamps. I think paddler is quite right about about the four petal stamp being a substitute for “from Rudall & Rose” due to the dainty size of a piccolo. The Ingram that dunnp has linked to the thread on the other hand does bear the “from Rudall & Rose” mark. Interestingly, the quatrefoil does not seem to have been used by Wylde, Ingram or any other of Rudall’s former workers as far as I am aware. Has anybody else encountered a Whitaker with Rudall & Rose leanings?