DCM 0949: Augustin Grenser I Flute in C

The block for the G# mount was broken off and has been filed away to receive a substitute, likely metal replacement saddle, also missing. It is also possible that the G# key was an addition in that there is very little wood mass in the baluster to support such a key block. Furthermore, the G# hole placement is rather clumsy in that it is very close to the decorative bead at the bottom of the baluster and very coarsely executed. The area of the missing F key has been damaged and crudely morticed to receive what may have been a metal flange supporting a key mount of unknown design applied with 2 steel pins or screws, one of which is still present. Most likely this joint had no keys and is from a Grenser 1-keyed instrument, this flute being a mixture of 2 instruments. It likely had 3 corps de rechange, and if the present upper body joint marked 3 is one of them, the others may or may not have had the B-flat key. See Condition.
Instrument type: Flute in C
Medium: Ebony, ivory cap, cork-setting mechanism, register slide and ferrules, silver keys.; 60.05 cm.
Key Holes System: 4 keys(?), square flat flaps. It is nearly certain that this was a 4-key instrument. See Notes and Condition.
Mark Maximum: (fleur-de-lis?) / (crossed swords) / A. GRENSER.
Mark Additional: Mark on head, lower body. Mark on upper: (crossed swords) / A. GRENSER / 3. Mark on foot: (crossed swords) / A. GRENSER / DRESDEN / 1789
Condition: G# and F key missing on the lower body joint. See Notes regarding key mounts. In addition, the E-flat key mount is broken off on one side and the spring is not original.
Provenance: Prof. Dr. Schmehl-Kundsen, Martinez, California, 9 July 1930.

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.