This ocarina was made by the great master and inventor of the ocarina himself Giuseppe DONATI (1836-1925). Donati lived and worked in his hometown of Budrio at the outset of his career as an ocarina maker. He moved to Bologna in 1878 where he lived and worked. In 1904 he...
This flute really needs no introduction to many flutists – the famous ‘Siccama’ flute. The Siccama flute was invented by Abel SICCAMA (c. 1810–65). He was a Dutch professor of languages and amateur flutist who had settled in London. It seems that Siccama created several flute designs. But his ‘Diatonic’...
This lovely, Romantic flute was made around 1840 by the master woodwind instrument maker, Christian Wilhelm LIEBEL (1793-1871). Wilhelm, as he preferred to call himself, was one of Dresden’s finest flute makers during the mid-nineteenth century. Born in Adorf and initially trained by his father, Liebel spent his journeyman...
This cocuswood flute was made by the master himself – Louis LOT (1807-96). By checking the serial number 1889, we can date this flute to 1874. All three sections of the instrument are stamped with the Louis Lot stamp, plus the serial number. This proves that the parts of the instrument all...
This Luigi VANOTTI flute, including its mechanism, is made of solid 900 silver – evidenced by its hallmarks. It was made around 1910. Luigi Vanotti worked for the company Rampone & Cazzani before setting up his own business in 1909 in Milan, at Via Solferino 46. He specialised in...
Luigi VANOTTI worked for the company Rampone & Cazzani before setting up his own business in 1909 in Milan, at Via Solferino 46. He specialised in making Boehm flutes, but also constructed several non-standard experimental models. He was clearly an innovator. One innovation was the Albisiphon, which he built and...
This beautiful Louis LOT cocuswood, conical ring-key flute is in playing condition. It was made shortly after Louis Lot had retired and the company was under the ownership of Honoré Désiré VILLETTE – Lot’s first successor. Villette was born on 20.04.1827 in Sorel Moussel – a small village about 10 kilometres...
This crazy-looking yet elegant metronome was invented and patented by Arthur Gough PINFOLD (1864-1940). Arthur was one of four children, born in Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire, England. His father was a watchmaker, jeweller and musician and his children would follow on in his footsteps. At some point, the family relocated to...
We often come across musical instruments with no stamp and no indication as to where they were made or their makers. They remain forever unsigned, unstamped and anonymous. These instruments are often brushed aside and rejected as worthless or inferior. But are they? Why did instrument makers choose anonymity and...
The surname HEIDEGGER is synonymous with instrument making in Passau and Linz. The family’s instrument-making history begins in the 1840s and ceases over 130 years later in 1973. Their story is not unlike other instrument makers of those days…difficult, complicated but for many, very interesting, especially since in this case,...
Boxwood is a lovely wood and it’s hardly surprising that it remains quite a favourite among today’s woodwind instrument makers. Buxus sempervirens, known as European boxwood, or common boxwood, is a species of flowering plant. It is an evergreen bush really, rather than a tree. It takes a long time to grow and it is difficult to find completely straight trunks without knots to use for items such as flutes.
Boxwood has a uniform grain and is very dense and hard, which is why it was so popular for wood turning and instrument making in the 18th century. At that time many instruments were predominantly made from boxwood. Then several tropical hardwoods became popular during the 1800s as tonewood. People wanted to have furniture and also instruments made from exotic types of wood. So, boxwood lost ground to these newcomers to Europe.
There were also some disadvantages to boxwood: its tendency to warp and easily soil. This led to the ‘banana’ effect with flutes for example, as the wood warped over time.
The wood is naturally yellow in colour and can be left with a natural, polished finished. Boxwood then darkens over time to have a nice honey-yellow colour. It can also be stained using acid staining to give it an orange-brown or dark-brown colour, and in wooden flute construction, many makers use a violin varnish for the finish. This is an extremely arduous technique that requires expertise and precision.
Sadly, since around 2006, the spread of the box tree moth called the Cydalima perspectalis has led to huge losses of boxwood ‘trees’ that have taken hundreds of years to grow. It was sad to see forests of boxwood reduced to almost nothing.
Now it’s very rare and wonderful to see just one full grown 100+ year boxwood tree. So, when that happens – some people just can’t resist and have to hug it!
