421.221.12 Open flutes with internal duct with fingerholes

Flageolet. Boxwood. Delicate body, constructed in two joints with a long beak. There are four fingerholes and two thumbholes. Length 6 1/2 inches. Inscribed: 'MARTIN,' with a lion rampant. Comments by Douglas MacMillan following examination of the instrument on 16.6.11: Type: French bird flageolet à bec, length: 164/128, pieces: 2, holes 4+2, stamp on head: MARTIN/(star). The stamp does little to indicate which of the Martin extended family built the instrument: as a bird flageolet, it is likely to be earlier than later and the catalogue date would be reasonable
overall: 170 x 20 mm; 6 1/2 in.

The flageolet is a duct flute that is classified according to the system of Hornbostel and Sachs as an 'open flute with internal duct, with fingerholes'.

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