Hi,
Has anyone seen a flute like this before? Jon 
That is one odd looking flute. I wonder what key it’s in - perhaps F?
Eric
Was this some kind of bizarre reaction to the Wheatstone patent ‘Fipple Attachment’ for flutes?!!?!! 
Yes .I had a keyed one twentysomething years ago .It made a good profit, so it wasn’t quite useless .
Don’t you think that flutes make more sense blown endways ?.Georgi did .
There are several flutes like this in the Bate collection in Oxford, known as eccentric flutes. Signor Giorgi of Florence designed an 11 hole flute on a cylindrical bore. One hole for every finger and thumb and the 11th covered by the side of the left forefinger (assuming you played right handed). Together these holes provided all 12 notes in the chromatic scale, thereby needing a slightly different fingering to play in the various keys. The blow hole on top was needed to allow the player to actually cover all the holes.
Other eccentric flutes had the mouth piece offset a bit like the feed pipe on an uilleann pipe chanter, allowing the player to hold the body of the instrument vertically. All this was aimed at addressing the possible neck or shoulder strain caused by the conventional flute position.
Oddly enough these flutes were quite popular at the time although keys were added to allow for simpler fingering. They are rare these days. This is the first I’ve seen offered for sale anywhere.
Ken
That is so weird I also wonder what key it is in. 