Description: This flute is made from boxwood and has block-mounted, sliver keys and turned ivory rings. Its head is unlined and it has no tuning slide. The flute has 4 keys – Bb, G#, short F, and Eb. The key cups are salt spoon style and use purse pads on the body keys and a conventional leather pad on the foot. The end cap and upper ring are not original.
Makers marks: The head is marked “FIRTH, HALL & POND / N-YORK” . The left hand section of the body is marked “3871 / FIRTH, HALL & POND / FRANKLIN SQ / N-YORK ”. The right hand body and foot sections are both marked “FIRTH, HALL & POND / N-YORK”.
History: Firth, Hall & Pond operated in New York from 1833 to 1847. In 1839 they took over from Camp & Hopkins and established the Fluteville factory in Litchfield, CT. For more information about Fluteville, and early American flute making in Litchfield, see this fascinating article by Barbara Hopkins. For a detailed history of Firth, Hall and Pond, and the role their families had in early American flute making, see this excellent article by Wendell Dobbs.
Tuning: This flute plays at A=440 hz with the head pulled out about 2-4 mm at 70 degrees F. The foot notes (Eb and D) are significantly flat (by over 30 cents). The F# is also flat, but this is more normal. The flat foot would be easy to rectify, but I have left the instrument in its original (to me) playing condition.
Specifications: C# – D# 264 mm. L2 tone hole 7.7 mm. R2 tone hole 7.7 mm.
Condition: The flute is in good playing condition, but has flat foot notes. The end cap, top ring, and foot end ring, are replacements.
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