Flute – STENGEL, Johann Simon

Here is a lovely four-part Romantic flute in its original case by the Bavarian master Johann Simon STENGEL (1803-1885). Listen to this flute playing Kaspar KUMMER’s (1795-1870) Etude mélodique op.110 n° 4. The flute exhibits a high level of craftsmanship, featuring beautifully made nickel silver rings. The tenon sockets are also inlaid...

B-flat flute & piccolo set – Luigi BILLORO

Have you ever seen a piccolo flute with a B-flat foot joint? We hadn’t until now… This piccolo is in a set with a flute that also goes right down to B-flat! Plus, it’s in its original case and in splendid condition.   Piccolos normally end with a D-foot, which is...

Thinned throughout, cocuswood flute – Rudall Carte

This stunning creation was entirely handmade in luscious cocuswood by the Rudall, Carte & Co Ltd – England’s finest flute-makers of the mid-twentieth century.  The company was set up in 1872 as successors to Rudall Rose, Carte & Co. Later in 1943-1944, it was acquired by Boosey & Hawkes. For more...

Fife – GEISLER, Christian Gottfried

Here is an unusual E fife – nominal pitch is D. It is made of fine boxwood and has a conical bore. Its embouchure is oval. The brass ferrules carry the number 1487 at the top and 1??5 at the base. The instrument plays at a=440 Hz and was perhaps...

Presentation flute – Anonymous

This delightful flute was a gift to a school friend in 1842 – William Guppy. It is a three-part flute, made of maple and fitted with one brass key. The form of the instrument suggests that it might be American, as does the style of the date and the wording...

Ocarina with double tuning slide – CANELLA, Antonio

This terracotta and brass ocarina was made in Ferrara, Italy by Antonio CANELLA (1861?-1952?). To date, we have never seen another ocarina with a double tuning slide like this one! It almost looks like a gun in the hand of Bond… James Bond. Antonio Canella was active making ocarinas from around...

Bass ocarina – DONATI, Guiseppe

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 opened...

Conical ring-key flute – BERTHOLD, Johann Heinrich

This grenadilla conical ring-key flute features a nickel silver mechanism that is silver-plated. It was entirely overhauled and is now in wonderful playing condition. It has new pads, felts and corks.  It also has a beautiful case covered in real leather, plus two new wooden tenon protectors. This conical ring-key flute...

Oboe – Wilhelm HECKEL

The Heckel woodwind instrument making workshop is one of the oldest to survive today. It was founded by Johann Adam HECKEL (1812-1877) who was born in Adorf but moved to Biebrich near Wiesbaden. He was extremely successful making all sorts of instruments, including bassoons, contrabassoons, clarinets, clarinas, flutes, oboes, basset...