DCM 0674: Anonymous Horizontal Whistle Flute

DCM ledger: "Native flute from Calcutta." Quoting letter from Lovejoy, 21 March 1925: "The vendor called it a 'Muralli piccolo.' Even he could give me no particulars as to its origin. 'Muralli' is an Indian name for a flute."
Instrument type: Horizontal Whistle Flute
Medium: Bamboo.; 38 cm.
Key Holes System: 0/6 holes.
Mark Maximum: No mark.
Condition: Between the blow pipe and fipple, there is a recessed, unfinished section in which something was either inlaid or wrapped. It currently has a loose wrapping of brass wire which seems not necessary or pertinent.
Provenance: J. S. Lovejoy (formerly of Calcutta), Letchworth, Hertfordshire, England, 23 Sept. 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.