Flute, C
Date1772-1790 ca.
Place MadePotsdam, Germany, Europe
Serial No.none
SignedOn foot: [Prussian Eagle] / F · G · A · KIRST / POTSDAM / [sunburst]On head joint, each corps de rechange, and lower middle joint: [Prussian Eagle] / F · G · A · KIRST / [sunburst]
MarkingsArabic 1, 2, or 3 stamped above maker's mark on each of the three corps de rechange. Longest joint bears 1; shortest, 3.
DescriptionBoxwood body in four sections of two additional upper middle joints (three corps de rechange in total). One brass key, mounted in a turned block, with chamfered flap. Ivory headcap and ferrules. Stamped with the Prussian eagle, this flute was made by F. G. A. Kirst, who was in the employ Frederick the Great as a flute maker.
DimensionsOverall length: 618 mm, 610 mm, 604 mm (with each corps de rechange)
Embouchure hole: 10.3 mm x 8.4 mm
Sounding length: 536.6 mm, 528.8 mm, 522.6 mm (with each corps de rechange)
ProvenancePurchased in 2000 through Rob Van Acht, Den Haag. Previosly the flute had been owned for about a century by a Dutch family (name unknown) of merchants (hardware and kitchenware) in Wageningen in the province of Gelderland in The Netherlands. In 1972 it was purchased by Simon Boendermaker, a chemist and philosopher working in both professions at the University of Leiden. In 1973 it was on personal loan to Rob Van Acht of The Hague's Geementemuseum, who used it for lectures and performances.
Published ReferencesPhillip Young, "Kirst, Friedrich Gabriel August," 4900 Historical Woodwind Instruments: An Inventory of 200 Makers in International Collections. London: Tony Bingham, 1993, p. 131 (see Y8).
Credit LineBoard of Trustees, 2000
Object number09947
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