Thanks Jem. It’s a bit of a long shot, I know, but I think worth a look.
I have only one flute that I know Paul worked on, and I know that because I swapped a Yamaha metal flute with him for it back in 1974. It has a mark under the C touch, but I can’t be really sure what the mark is. At a quick glance, or under the Maggy Lamp, I’d say a P, but under the zoom microscope it becomes inconclusive. It could be a poorly formed F, and you have reported an F on the same type of flute (B&S Dulcet). It’s certainly not the result of recent engraving, might be a period stamp not well used, or it could be a later scratched letter. None of the other keys shows a mark.
Interestingly, and perhaps significantly, I haven’t noted any other period flute key stampings involving a P.
I’ve had a bit of a look now at two flutes here which have old crack pinning work in what I believe is Paul’s distinctive style. One is my low Bb R&R #4837 and the other is a “visiting” flute with Wylde stamped keys. Without doing a full strip search, there’s no obvious sign of anything non-original marked on the keys, certainly no crude modern engraving.
OK, thanks Jem. Let’s just keep an eye out just in case.
Interesting about the crack pinning. I wouldn’t have guessed that was within his repertoire, but we have to remember my last contact with him was in 1974. Gulp, 47 years ago! At that time he had “digs” near Portobello Rd (his landlady was an Irish woman who played concertina! Mrs Flaherty, from memory.). He showed me a lot of flutes and showed me how he did padding, rewound tenons and relatively straightforward stuff like that. All done at a desk in his room. No sign of any more serious facilities. But maybe that came later, or was done elsewhere.
"Tonehole, Arthur, and anyone else who might have a flute or flutes handled by Paul Davis/Davies over the years. Can I get you to check under the touch of the upper C key to see if there are any markings. You will probably need to pull the pin to be able to see it. "
Hi Terry -
I can’t see any marking and the key is exposed with limited area to etch anything under the pin!
Happy to trust Arthur’s word that this B&H R.S. Pratten’s Perfected came from Paul Davies’ widow 