This exquisite, solid silver alto flute is a beauty to behold and was made by England’s finest flute-makers of the mid-twentieth century.  The company was established in 1872 as successors to Rudall Rose, Carte & Co and was bought in 1943-1944 by Boosey & Hawkes. The history of this great company is fascinating and we would recommend reading Robert Bigio’s fine work on the subject.

This flute has a typical straight construction with trill keys on a separate axis in front of the tone-holes.  It is easy to handle and the touchpieces are ideal even for small hands. It features a Rockstro F-sharp key.   The lip plate is concave in shape and the embouchure is perfectly crafted. Its dimensions are 10.8 x 12.9 mm.  It is just a tiny bit bigger that a standard embouchure on a C flute. We shouldn’t forget to mention the expertly made seamed tubing and soldered tone-holes. Silver purity hallmarks can be found on the tube, mechanism and lip-plate.

It plays right down to low G with a warm and round sound at a=442 Hz all in. A remarkable flute from the golden age of Rudall Carte flute-making.