Just wondering if anyone here had any luck at the recent Gardiner Houlgate auction. It closed on Friday, so its too late now, but the following flutes were all for sale on the same day:
R&R #1243 15 Piazza (boxwood)
R&R #1598 15 Piazza
R&R #2507 15 Piazza
R&R #2873 15 Piazza
R&R #3463 15 Piazza
R&R #3879 1 Tavistock St
R&R #4495 1 Tavistock St
R&R #5502 38 Southampton St
RRC&Co #6643 20 Charing Cross
RRC&Co #6550 20 Charing Cross
And a boxwood Clementi C. Nicholson Improved
I wonder if they all came from the same collection?
They did come from the same collection, there was some discussion about it on the Flute History Channel on FB. The boxwood Rudall in particular caught my attention, but I knew it would go well over what I was willing and able to pay for it.
Amazing collection. Wanted to join the fun myself but I’m up to my neck in projects at the moment. I did managed to capture the images and sale notes though for the RudallRose.com catalog. Hoping to launch v1 of that on Wednesday this week.
Ah, so you have taken that on too! Good man! I was wondering if the Rudall Registry might disappear. I even grabbed a local copy of the information there in anticipation of it disappearing.
I did actually bid on a few flutes at the Gardiner Houlgate auction, knowing that I would almost certainly be outbid on most of them, as is usually the case. However, by some kind of miracle (or likely just luck due to over supply), I actually got two of them (Piazza #1598, and Tavistock #3879).
I’ll be happy to share details of those and pics for the registry if and when I receive them. Negotiating US Customs in the face of the new tariff system, especially since the removal of the de minimis exception a few days ago, is a major challenge right now. So, those flutes will remain at my sister’s place in the UK until I find a reliable way of getting them over here.
I was particularly interested in getting my hands on an earlier, smaller holed, Rudall. I’ve been spending a lot of time recently making a copy (slightly modified for A=440) of a later Rudall, Rose, Carte & Co flute (#6264) and am very pleased with how it has come out so far. I currently make a large bore D flute loosely based on a Pratten design, and a small bore, small tone hole model based on an antique American flute by Riley. I think this medium large tone hole Rudall model will complement the line up nicely.