Flute – BLACKMAN, Josiah

Flutes

An 8-keyed flute by the London maker Josiah BLACKMAN (1819-1886), made from Cocuswood with nickel silver keys, finger hole bushings and rings. The rings are beautifully decorated with the Guilloché technique … also called rose engine turning. This technique is rarely found with flutes. The original pewter plugs found in the foot joint are typical for that time.

Its total length is 665 mm and the sounding length (middle of embouchure to the end of the foot joint) is 580 mm. The flute plays wonderfully at a pitch of a=440 Hz with the tuning slide pulled out around 8 mm.

The flute can be dated to around 1850-1860. It was at that time that Josiah BLACKMAN was working out of 93 and then 120 Blackfriars Road. Josiah had taken over the music business from his uncle William BLACKMAN (1786-1845) who was never based in Blackfriars. He worked at this location concentrating more on fortepianos until the business later moved to Newington Causeway and was then sold.

The flute has been entirely restored by a professional, specialist flute maker. The restoration work included a new head joint cap and screwcork (the original one was missing), the bushing of the finger hole and reconstruction of the c key socket. The c key may itself not be original. Furthermore, all fine cracks were professional glued, the pads were replaced (silicon pads) and the tenons rethreaded. Finally, the whole instrument cleaned, polished and checked. A new beechwood case was made especially for this instrument 

A very rare and absolutely unique instrument, which can only be found nowadays in museums, like for example, the Library of Congress in Washington DC.

LIBRARY OVERVIEW

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Cocuswood

Cocuswood is the very dense hardwood of a Caribbean flowering tree called the ‘Brya ebenus’.

‘Brya ebenus’ belongs to the pea family ‘Fabaceae’ and is native to the Caribbean islands of Jamaica and Cuba. It also goes by the quite romantic name of Jamaica Rain Tree because it blossoms bright yellow-orange flowers right after it rains.

Cocuswood’s lovely medium to dark reddish-brown colour is further enhanced with dark blackish streaks. With time, its colour darkens. The grain of cocuswood tends to be straight or a bit wavy. It has a wonderful natural lustre and a fine, even texture.

So absolutely nothing to do with coconuts or coconut trees at all! Really!

With its amazing density, hardness and colour, it’s no wonder that this wood was considered to be one of the very best tonewoods and was widely used in the manufacture of woodwind instruments in the 1800s. It was an exotic, tropical alternative to woods such as boxwood, which were widely used at the time. Flutes, oboes and bagpipes were crafted in cocuswood as well as other items such as carvings or inlays.

Back then cocuswood was all the rage and sadly, due to this previous over-exploitation and the small size of its natural habitat, this wonderful natural resource has been commercially exhausted. So, it is not a protected species, but extremely expensive and difficult to source – making it a very special wood indeed.

 

Guilloché technique

Guilloché or guilloche is a craft that was developed over 300 years ago. Guilloché is a special pattern that is created using various overlapping or interlaced lines. To guilloche means then to mechanically engrave guilloches on an underlying material using pressure. This was done using a special lathe by guillocheurs. The special lathe machines can be rose engines, straight-line engines or brocading machines. By using a mechanical technique, greater precision, delicacy and speed can be achieved.

The origin of the first guilloché machines is not entirely clear. Some claim they were Swiss, while others say they were invented by a Frenchman – an engineer called Guillot. Whatever the case, it was introduced into watchmaking back in 1786. It was then that Abraham-Louis Breguet began using the techniques for decorating the cases and dials of the pocket watches he made. Then Peter Carl Fabergé was responsible for making this technique popular in the 19th century with the iconic eggs that came from his manufacturing.

The machines themselves are extremely expensive and rare nowadays and so are the guillocheurs, with very few places offering training in this artisan technique. Guilloché still survives however. Perhaps this is because CNC machines and computers don’t seem to deliver the same cutting quality and refraction of light.

Maybe there will be a guilloché revival, especially in jewellery for example, where people are always looking for a handmade special and unique item. Until then, we can just wonder at the exquisite results of this age-old technique.

E. Rittershausen, Berlin

One of the beautiful stories of mythology tells of the way the first musical instrument was suggested. As the story runs, as Orpheus was walking along the shores of the sea, his foot struck a reed that had been cast up by the waters, and had dried in the sun. The reed gave forth a soft, sweet sound as it was made to vibrate by the stroke of Orpheus’ foot and the result was the lyre or hand-harp of the ancient Egyptians. A similar story, and probably the same one adapted to the wind instruments, is that of Lucretius which says that “the simple flute had its origin from the breathing of western winds over certain reeds,” and thus was suggested the musical pipe, or simple tube, which has developed into one of the most fascinating of instruments.

The most elaborate and beautiful collection of flutes ever displayed in the United States, and probably in the world, was seen by visitors to the German section of the Columbian Exposition. The display was that of E. Rittershausen, of Berlin. It was arranged in a large, square glass case, and consisted of flutes made of various woods, of Ebonite and of sterling silver. The Rittershausen flutes are the standard of the world, and have received the indorsement of the best performers upon this favorite instrument. Until 1832 the flute was not regarded as a perfect instrument. In that year Theobald Boehm, of Munich, brought the instrument to such a degree of perfection as to make it one of the most prominent of orchestral and solo instruments. The Rittershausen flutes are made exactly upon the Boehm system, and with such wondrous skill and delicacy of workmanship as to have long since become the favorite of discriminating flutists. It is, in fact, the instrument universally referred to when the Boehm flute is desired.

Like the illustrious Boehm, Mr. Rittershausen is also a virtuoso as well as a manufacturer, devoting his entire faculties to the production of a perfect flute. By his own practical skill he is enabled to appreciate the many details and requirements in the construction of such an instrument as is demanded by the most fastidious virtuoso. This, it will readily be seen, is an invaluable consideration in the selection of a flute by a skilled performer. And in the rapid progress of musical culture of America, there are many lovers of the beautiful instrument who are its admirers and enthusiastic students at the present time.

Living in the musical city of Berlin, Mr. Rittershausen is thrown in personal contact with the greatest flutists of Europe, thereby receiving many suggestions from them that are of incalculable benefit in the manufacture of his instruments. The Rittershausen factory is located at 107 Bergmann street, Berlin, and its product has been famous from the establishing of the present business in 1870. Each year adds largely to the number of Rittenhausen-Boehm flutes in use in America, and they have received the highest testimonials from the most famous composers and performers in this country as well as those abroad. The American representative of the Rittershausen flutes is Mr. Carl Fischer, No. 6 Fourth Avenue, New York.

Musical Instruments at the World’s Columbian Exposition – Frank D. Abbottt, Charles A. Daniell – 1895 – P. 200