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Transverse flute

Side-blown flute made of rosewood in five sections (head, barrel, upper and middle joints, and foot), with silver ferrules and keywork. It has eight keys in total, mounted in blocks, of which six have saltspoon-cups (one missing) and two (low C and C-sharp) have pewter-plug-cup keys (i.e. a nineteenth-century type of key in which the pad is a tapered plug of pewter or other soft metal riveted loosely to the key end, and the tonehole is lined with a similarly tapered metal bushing or sleeve that supposedly ensured an airtight seal), all with flat springs attached to keys. The low C and C-sharp keys have overlapping touches. The head is lined with metal and has a wooden cap. The embouchure hole is oval and the second, fourth and fifth fingerholes are larger. Nominal pitch: C.

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  • Inscriptions:Stamped: Z. T. PURDAY / HIGH / HOLBORN
  • Hornbostel-Sachs category:421.121.12 Open side-blown flutes with fingerholes
  • Repository:National Museum of the Royal Navy
  • Measurements:Length: 660mm