DCM 0630: Anonymous, Arabic(?) End-blown Flute

At each end of the closely spaced septa, there is turned or hand-filed an approximately 5 mm. wide channel which is then decorated with a winding of silver or metal wire. The upper end likely had either an added length of integral bamboo material or another material carved to have a continuous bevel to function as the edge.
Instrument type: End-blown Flute
Medium: Bamboo, brass ferrules, silver or other unidentified metal wire.; 78.2 cm.
Key Holes System: 0/6 holes plus membrane hole.
Mark Maximum: No mark.
Condition: The decorative wire windings are missing from the upper 3 septum areas described above although some or all of that wire material was placed inside the bore of the instrument. Originally in one piece, this instrument was cut in two at the 3rd septum from the top to fit into a trunk.
Provenance: André Rossignol, Paris, 28 July 1926.

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.