DCM 0348: Johann Benjamin Eisenbrandt Flute in C

DCM ledger: "This flute seems to have been rebuilt. The lined head joint with tuning slide, is all new excepting the ivory cap. It bears no name. All other pieces are marked. Middle joints nos. 1 and 2 (lower pitches) have no key. No. 3 has one silver key for B-flat. Lower middle joint has keys for G# and short F. The short foot joint has key for D#. All keys are hemispherical cup, and are on posts. The original flute had only the one key for D#, and this was a square flat flapped key, mounted in the ivory ring. The silver ferrules are probably new, also." Miller implies that the ivory cap and cork-setting mechanism is original. It is typical of instruments of this period, but not necessarily original to the extant portions of this flute. The present D# key may in fact be the 3rd such key applied, the original flat key channel having been narrowed with ivory shims to receive a replacement key more narrow at that point but still applied with pin in block. The instrument may have received a square flat pin in block mounted G# key prior to the present one of post and rod construction.
Instrument type: Flute in C
Medium: Ivory, with silver or silver-plated keys and nickel silver ferrules (none of which appears to be original), metal-lined head.; 61.6 cm.; 62.2 cm.; 63.15 cm.
Key Holes System: 3 or 4 keys, square flat and hemispherical (saltspoon) flaps.
Mark Maximum: (flower) / EISENBRANT / GÖTTINGEN / (flower)
Mark Additional: Mark on foot. Mark on body sections: (flower) / EISENBRANT / (flower). Upper body marked with 1, 2, or 3.
Condition: Head joint not original, both sections cracked. Upper joint no. 3 is missing a chip from the upper tenon. Upper joint no. 2 is cracked at both ends. No. 1 lower tenon is cracked, upper tenon broken off and missing.
Provenance: G. Theimann, London, 13 July 1923.

The Dayton C. Miller collection in the Library of Congress, contains nearly 1,700 flutes and other wind instruments, statuary, iconography, books, music, trade catalogs, tutors, patents, and other materials mostly related to the flute. It includes both Western and non-Western examples of flutes from around the world, with at least 460 European and American instrument makers represented. Items in the collection date from the 16th to the 20th century.