DCM 1508: William Bainbridge English Double Flageolet

This instrument is slightly unusual in that the 2 tubes share a common wide ivory ferrule at the bottom, and, the fipple stock is on 2 sides, pre-cross pinned similar to English flutes and clarinets by the period.
Instrument type: English Double Flageolet
Medium: Boxwood, silver keys, ivory ferrules and finger studs.; 37 cm.
Key Holes System: Left tube: 1/7 holes plus 2 keys and a cutoff key on the fipple stock. Right tube: 0/5 holes plus 3 keys and a cutoff key on the fipple stock. Pin in block.
Mark Maximum: BAINBRIDGE / TEACHER / & INVENTOR / HOLBORN / HILL / LONDON / PATENT // BAINBRIDGE / & WOOD / 35 / HOLBORN / HILL / LONDON / PATENT
Mark Additional: Mark on sponge chamber sections. Mark on each tube: PATENT.
Condition: Missing original mouthpiece, lower sponge chamber section partially cracked and repaired with replacement ivory ring, possibly made by DCM. Fipple stock cracked near maker's mark. Left pipe missing little finger key, bottom duplex ferrule cracked between its 2 holes. One finger stud missing from right tube. Left pipe thumbhole plugged with cork, as was sometimes recommended by period tutors.
Provenance: Source not known.

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.