Photo of DCM 1045: Goulding Flute in C - Public domain dedication

Instrument type: Flute in C
Medium: Figured boxwood, stained dark brown, ivory and boxwood cap, brass key, ivory ferrules.; 60.5 cm.
Key Holes System: 1 key, square flap.
Mark Maximum: GOULDING & Cº / LONDON
Mark Additional: Mark on head. Upper, lower, foot: GOULDING & Cº
Condition: Head joint and ferrule cracked at socket bearing a period repair including a well-designed tapered silver ferrule which is driven down over the socket. Additionally, a rectangular silver patch has been affixed to the ivory ferrule with 4 brass pins perforating both the ferrule and boxwood underneath to address the crack in each. Lower body joint socket has 3 cracks, including 2 in the ivory ferrule. A very curious repair attempt was introduced, the reason for which is difficult to understand: 4 brass pins perforate both the ferrule and the wood underneath, 2 on each side of one of the 2 ferrule cracks. Originally this repair perhaps addressed a single crack in the ferrule and was thus only meant to secure the ferrule to the instrument. However, continued shrinkage brought about an even wider second crack in the ferrule, and 2 of the pins have generated one of the 3 cracks in the socket itself. Foot joint bottom ferrule cracked (ivory).
Provenance: Charles E. Derry, Omaha, Nebraska, 20 Apr. 1931.

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.