Rudall Carte 1867 Patent flute for sale
Sorry - Sold!
1867 Patent flute, serial number 9850. Cocuswood, thinned throughout, body and foot in one piece, silver keys, two headjoints. Modern pitch. This flute was played in one of the BBC orchestras until the 1980s and is the last 1867 flute ever used professionally. This is a very important instrument.
The 1867 Patent is a Boehm flute but with a different, and in many ways better, fingering system. As on a Boehm flute this system has fully-vented keys, meaning all the keys below the note being played are open. This system has an open G#. The all-fingers-off note is D, not C#, allowing great flexibility in rapid passages. There are many alternate fingerings available. In Britain for many years the 1867 was almost as popular as the standard Boehm.
This is a thinned-throughout flute: the body of the instrument has been carved away to leave the holes standing proud. This reduces the thickness of the walls of the flute to about 2.5mm. Thinning a complete flute is a difficult and time-consuming process. The third photograph below shows some toneholes in close-up.
The condition of this flute is good, but it is dirty and has clearly seen a lot of use. The flute plays beautifully, as you would expect of an instrument that was used by a professional musician. There are two headjoints. Both are thinned, and one has a silver lip-plate.
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