Simon Waters
11-key conical "Dressler's Improved' flute by Goodlad #2544
This exceptional flute is probably technically a 9-key instrument to B with extra touches for F and Bb. At some point in its life it was fitted with a device of some kind (a key?) above fingerhole 1, but the mounting points for this have since been skilfully filled with cocus dowels. The flute is stamped [lyre]/MANUFACTD BY/GOODLAD/25 VILLIERS ST/STRAND/LONDON/2544 and the keys are stamped with John Dunkin Goodlad's mark and hallmarked 'q' for 1831. The flute is stamped 'Dressler's Improved' and like all other such instruments also carries the stamp of Bates of Ludgate Hill, who seems to have been employed as an intermediary dealer for Dressler instruments. It is early in the (brief) production span of such instruments, and its heavy mounts decorated with a stylised acanthus-leaf motif, and elegantly turned crown suggest that it was made for someone important, perhaps even for Dressler himself. The wonderful photos were provided by Hammy Hamilton.
The clutch connecting the extra long F touch (for l/h thumb) to the key cup of the the short F key
The 'JDG' key stamp and the (inverted) four-element sequence of the hallmark for London, including the date-letter 'q' for 1831
The long-B key
The beautifully cut lined block for the D# key, and the block with the key in place.
Detail of one of the elaborate stylised acanthus-leaf mounts, here on the headjoint with the crown slightly withdrawn.
