old pewter whistle query

Whistle
1

I have an old whistle marked M>Mathieu Paris on it, apparentlyu made of pewter or some alloy like it. Anybody know anything about it? It came to me throught my grandfather’s estate, I have no provenance for it at all.
It works ok, needs revoicing but I dont want to mess with it.
thanks,

JohnO

2

I hope someone here has more knowledge than me about your particular whistle. My only advice is to learn more before making a habit of putting it in your mouth. There was a time when a large number of whistles were being made using parts that used lead or lead-based alloys.

3

I had one of those, picked up for a fiver during the 80s. Micho Russell bummed it off me. Mine had a silvery coating/plating that had peeled in a few spot but it was a nice whistle, in Csharp-ish, probably old concert-pitch.

4

I have one of these…it plays in D with the bell note almost right-on. the tuning varies up the scale and it’s fairly quiet and sweet. The only info I could find on it is that is was most likely made in the 1890’s. I do NOt play it however since there is a high probability of lead. It’s for sale if anyone wants it.

5

Have one too and mine tested positive for lead. I doubt there is any good way to play it safely, but it’s still a cool bit of history.

6

Is anyone going to post pictures or are you just going to tease? :wink:

7

Could you plate it with something? It’d be a shame never to play it.

8

Somewhere on Clips & Snips there was a clip of someone playing a lead-plugged whistle. I can’t remember which section the clip was in.

9

Try this link: http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=33392&highlight=

It has photos of one of these plus another of my whistles. Evidently this was a common material to use for whistles at the time.

10

Lead poisioning normally comes from inhaling lead fumes (casting lead objects like bullets or fishing sinkers, soldering with lead solder and similar activities) or from ingesting lead paint or dust. Casually handling a lead or pewter object once in a while won’t give you enough lead to worry about. You could coat the mouthpiece with an epoxy varnish to insulate the pewter from your lips then wash your hands after playing and enjoy the whistle. I wouldn’t practice with it eight hours a day for ten years but picking up a piece of history and playing a tune once in a while shouldn’t hurt you.