Yes, my mistake Flatley, not Flaherty. I've met all three, Flatley, Henry and Tansey, in Tubbercurry, Co. Sligo, but this was before I became interested in Rudall flutes. I didn't know then that Michael had a Rudall collection.
Quote:
"I have heard rumour that there is some advertising literature that survives from the firm. Does anybody know if they made a point of promoting different "models" of simple system flutes, or were they just referred to collectively as "old system" flutes?" Uni flute
Found this the other day, a Rudall advert from 1829:
"To amateurs and professors of the flute
Messrs- Rudall and Rose whose attention has been for several years devoted to the improvement of the flute, and whose exertions have been rewarded by the approbation of the most accomplished amateurs as well as the most distinguished members of the musical profession, beg to inform the nobility and gentry that they have on hand a large stock of wood which has for some years undergone the process of seasoning ; and that they can confidently recommend the instruments made from this well-prepared material, as being secure against any injury from the distillation of the breath, or the vicissitudes of climate. – No. 15, Piazza, Covent-Garden.
Among the numerous improvements which have of late years distinguished musical science, it may be mentioned that Messrs. Rudall and Rose, of Covent-Garden, have brought the flute to a state of perfection, which leaves nothing more to be desired. In point of power and brilliancy of tone, in the extreme neatness and elegance of their mechanical properties, but more particularly in their well known capability of withstanding the changes of all climates, their flutes surpass anything of the kind that has hitherto been offered for public approbation and support.”