Siccama flutes by other makers

Imitation, we are told, is the sincerest form of flattery.  And certainly, you wouldn't bother copying a flute that you or your customers didn't admire.  Siccama's flutes were copied by probably more makers than any other kind, with the obvious and more recent exception of Boehm's cylindrical flute.  They were obviously and deservedly popular.

It's worth remembering that British Patent Law offered patent protection for only 14 years, so anyone could freely make a Siccama-style flute after the patent ran out in 1859 or so.

As an aid to understanding the extent of Siccama's wider contribution to the flute world, I've opened this presentation of extant Siccama-style flutes by other makers.  If you have or know of a Siccama-style flute not listed here, do let us know!

Definitions

We'll use the same set of definitions we used in looking at Siccama's own flutes.

• Siccama flute - one where the third finger of each hand is extended by a key, permitting the holes to be better placed and sized than on an 8-key flute.  A.K.A Siccama's Patent Diatonic Flute

• Speaking length - the distance form the centre of the embouchure to the end of the foot with the slide fully compressed

• Body & Foot length - the distance from the top of the upper body tenon to the end of the foot.

• Brille - a device for improving c# involving two ring keys and a covered key over a duplicate c hole

• Key Mounts - Block, Post or Mixture

• Key type - One piece, "Hudson" type, Rod & axle, Additional and Full. 
  
  Keys similar to those on 8-key flutes are noted as One-piece.    Hudson keys consist of a shaft and a cup which screws into a hub on the far end. Some employed Rod & axle style keys. Some later Siccama-based flutes had Additional keywork (ie more holes were covered with keys than just L3 and R3), and some (F) had keys on every hole.

• Metal - Sterling silver (tarnishes black) or Nickel Silver (tarnishes green/yellow)

English makers 

Siccama Flutes by Hudson

Looking for Siccama-style flutes by other makers, we should first check out previous employees.  Sure enough, we find a very interesting flute by John Hudson, who had, as far as we can tell, been Siccama's chief flute-maker before going out on his own in 1853.

The flute isn't marked Siccama, indeed it is marked:

R.S. PRATTEN'S PERFECTED
HUDSON
3 RATHBONE PLACE
OXFORD St
LONDON
121

(the serial number is not totally clear)

And indeed, it currently doesn't look like a Siccama, having been reverted to a simple 8-key system, probably in the late 20th century.  But, under close inspection, it's easy to see the plugged holes where once the two Siccama keys were mounted, and where the two pads seated.  You may be able to just make them out as dark circular patches to the immediate right of the new holes 3 and 6 in the image below.  

Siccama style flute by Hudson, private collection, UK, image courtesy of owner.

Equally interesting, the flute was also fitted with a thumb-operated normally-closed C-key, something mentioned in Pratten's Fingering Chart.  This was also relatively recently removed.  You can see the short extension to the left end of the c key where the thumb lever connected.  The arrangement is similar to the Chappell shown further down the page.

Now a convenient C key does make particular good sense on a Siccama, where the usually deficient notes of the 8-key have generally been dealt with, with the exception of c and c#.  The thumb key will give a perfect c, and with the thumb key opened, c# will also be much cleaner and in good pitch.

Note too, the classic "Hudson keys" - where the cup is a separate item which screws into a threaded boss at the end of the shaft.  Note also the unusual over-the-top style G# lever - Siccama's flutes featured the typical English down-the-side G# lever.  Examination of the original hole spacing (including the plugged holes) shows them to be virtually identical to the writers' Siccama No 321.

So summarising the interesting points and raising the obvious questions:

• A Siccama flute, but marked Pratten's Perfected.  Siccama's patent had many years to run - how is this possible?

• By serial number 121, Hudson has dropped his "Hudson from Siccama" identifier

• Is this Hudson No 121, or Pratten No 121, or both?

• Put another way, were all Hudson's flutes Pratten's Perfecteds?

• The over-the-top G# lever.  Why?

• And the Thumb C lever, later offered as an option on Pratten's Perfected flutes by Boosey & Co.

I am unaware of any previous reportage of Siccama style flutes being offered by Hudson under the name Pratten's Perfected.  It illustrates that examining extant instruments is a far more profitable line of research than relying on the incomplete and sometimes thoroughly misleading period records.

Our next port of call is Boosey & Co.  They hired Siccama's previous employee John Hudson, mentioned above, to manage their flute building.  They also acquired the rights to the R.S. Pratten's Perfected range of flutes, which had been derived from the Siccama by Pratten and Hudson, and which included Siccama-style 10-key flutes in the range.

Unfortunately, it's hard to decipher what proportion of Boosey's flutes were Siccama-based, as the factory records (which cover the period 1857 to 1930) are rather vague.  By far the majority of Boosey's output were military instruments, particularly Bb fifes, and flutes and piccolos in the band keys (Bb, Eb, F).  This accounts for about 75% of the output!

The other major categories appear to be cylindrical flutes (but with presumably old fingering), 151, and Boehm system, 351.  There is clear record of some 54 Siccamas, but many more could be hiding among the 768 "concert flutes" mentioned.  For example, what is the "Pratten Cone" illustrated below if it is not a Siccama?

Siccama style flute from Butler

It's probably a bit cheeky calling George Butler an English maker, as he appears to have started up in Dublin in 1826, then opened a London branch in 1858.

Cylindrical (ie Boehm's bore with cylindrical body and "parabolic" head) Siccama-style flute in Eb, at A452, obviously intended for military band use.  Note block mounting for some keys and posts for others.  The Short F and G# keys are mounted on the same axles as the two Siccama keys but operate independently.  Marked "Butler Haymarket London and Dublin".  There is no serial number, but the Haymarket address puts it between 1865 and 1898.

Butler Eb Siccama style flute, with kind permission of owner, player and teacher Frank Claudy. 
Image courtesy of David Migoya, Denver flute restorer and researcher.

Siccama Flutes by Chappell

Samuel Arthur Chappell, born London, 1834, died 1904, advertised in the 1880's as, among other things, manufacturer of the patent Siccama and Clinton flutes.  Certainly Chappell Siccama flutes seem relatively common.  The company's address is a useful indicator of dates:

1862: 214 Regent St
1866-70: 45 New Bond St
1871-1901: 52 New Bond St.

Siccama style flute, with brille, by SA Chappell, Cocuswood, Nickel Silver

The flute is marked:

(crown)
SICCAMA
PATENTEE
1254
S.A. CHAPPELL
52 NEW BOND ST
LONDON

Note the mix of block mounting for most of the regular keys and post mounting for the Siccama keys, brille, short F and the c and F key guides.  Note also the incised rings on the barrel slide and the stopper rod to assist tuning to different pitches.

Here's an interesting addition - a thumb operated C key.  Note again the interesting mix of blocks and posts.  Essentially, whatever worked.

This one looks suspiciously like a Siccama by Siccama.  Complete with Brille and thumb keys for C and Bb, as well as a D trill key, all done in Hudson-like keys.

So far, we have information on these Siccama-style flutes by Chappell:
    

  
Siccama flutes by Henry Potter

Siccama Flutes by Hawkes

Hawke's Siccama-style flutes look very similar to the Chappell above, so let's take a close look at the more interesting bits:

Detail of Hawkes flute, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney Cat No H8964, 
image kindly supplied by Curator, Michael Lea.

Again we see the Brille mechanism to improve venting of C#.

Extant Hawkes Siccamas include:
 

Rudall Carte & Co

Even the mighty Rudall Carte and Co made some Siccama style flutes, and therein lies an interesting tale.  Rockstro quotes Carte delving into his diary: "On the second of June [1842] I find that Siccama met Rudall & Rose at my house, and, after making the necessary promise of secrecy, they were shown the model, and talked over the matter, which ended in their not thinking it worth further consideration.   I was well pleased with the idea, but plainly saw that the thing would not do as it was.  Siccama urged me to consider it well, and I took the flute with me to Newcastle, but shortly afterwards returned it to him at his desire.  So much for the date of Siccama's first abortion."

Now we can't be sure that this was the flute in question, as Siccama went on to patent a number of concepts.  Given though that Carte was "well pleased with the idea" it seems most likely to have been this instrument, as the others were considerably less practical.

So, given Rudall & Rose's rejection of the instrument, and Carte's rather cavalier dismissal, it's perhaps especially delicious to find their company making a version (albeit cylindrical) some 58 years later ....

Rudall Carte & Co No 7238, cylindrical, cocus wood & nickel silver (image courtesy Dan Campbell).

Note that in addition to the usual Siccama keys, it has two extra trill keys giving d and eb.  Robert Bigio advises that it was "made in 1900 ... by Chapman, who supplied flutes like this [to Rudall Carte] in some bulk. I suspect he worked elsewhere [ie not at Rudall Carte's], as his flutes are listed in batches with the same description and date. The flute was bought by Whitehouse & Marlor".

Beare & Sons

Another cylindrical flute, this one is marked "Improved Siccama" and Beare & Sons.  As they were listed as importers dealers, probably another London maker actually carried out the work.  The description "Improved Siccama" smacks of Boosey & Co, although the angled G# key is not normally an English feature. 

Whitacker

C. Whitaker, who flourished London circa 1890, is recorded by Langwill as a "specialist in Siccama-model flutes".  Interesting that he could specialise in a flute that was being ridiculed in Rockstro's book released in that same year!

The Whitaker Siccama-style flute pictured above came up for sale on Ebay in March 2005. 

And even good old Anon

Yes, even an unmarked Siccama style flute is reported by English collector John Roe.

Continental makers

Siccama-style Flute by Ritterhausen

Seems the Berlin company of Ritterhausen also caught the Siccama bug, but responded in a predictably German way.  You'll see in the flute below:

• the little knobs each side of the embouchure common on the German Reform flute
• the lack of a separate tuning slide (who needs it when pitch is stable?)
• the typically small holes of German style flutes
• all rod & axle construction
• the foot extending to low B

and if we look at the back (from L to R):

• trill key for e, operated by R1
• trill key for d, operated by R2
• the c key, operated from along the D trill rod by R1
• A Bb key (cup topside) operated by L thumb
• A second Bb key on the same axle, but operated by R1
• and the usual Short F.

Note that only a modest amount of hole relocation has been looked for using the Siccama approach - no doubt just enough to achieve the popular German goal of uniformity in hole size.  Note also just how much hardware is needed to achieve a fairly common German flute configuration when you adopt rod & axle construction.

Now we can't be sure of course that this flute was inspired by Siccama - Ritterhausen may well have come up with the idea himself or from some other source.  But it's certainly interesting that, stripped of the obligatory German trill and alternate keys, it fits the Siccama pattern exactly.  So, in the least case, "great minds think alike".

Finally, this flute was also badged "Carl Fisher, NY", showing that a market existed for such instruments in the US, which we will see reinforced below.

Djalma Julliot-Mignolet

This fascinating flute (and the notes below) comes to us from the Dayton C. Miller Collection:

Flute in C, unsigned, according to DCM correspondence with Jean Mignolet, Denver, Colorado, 31 Oct. 1920: "...it was made by my friend Djalma Julliot, La Couture Boussey, France, who at the time made flutes for Paul Taffanel."

Key Holes System: Cylindrical bore, old system, with Mignolet patent G#, one piece body to D, this instrument is, in effect, a metal version of the 10-keyed Siccama flute (minus long F, low C#, C) with the exception that the left hand 3rd finger key closes two large toneholes for G and the little finger then reopens the lower of the two for G#, similar to the Dorus arrangement of dual opposing springs. 7 keys, 4 uncovered fingerholes.

Julliot's decision to vent the G# when playing A would be a very effective improvement.

The instrument can be examined in detail by entering DCM 0139 at the DCM search site.

Other Continental Makers

The Belgian company of C. Mahillon made Siccama model flutes and were reputed to have been the first to apply the Brille mechanism to them.  This was a good move, curing the only other dubious note on the instrument.  We'll bring you an image when available.  

In the meantime, this catalog extract reveals that we're talking a pretty standard Siccama, but with Brille. The barrel (if indeed it is a separate barrel and not a cosmetic one) has a more continental look, but essentially it is a classic large-hole British style instrument.

US Makers 

Siccama's style of flute seemed to be very popular in the US with a number of US makers supplying them.  It's not always easy to tell under these circumstances whether they were actually made in the US or brought in and re-badged.  We'll take the cautious approach that they were made in the US until more evidence comes to hand.

Pond

William Pond was the son of Sylvanus Billings Pond and it seems, like his father, there is no evidence of him as a maker, but he is known to be a dealer and music publisher.  Looking at the image below we see several points of similarity and difference to Siccama's own product:

• The keys resemble Hudson's, but do not appear to have the screwed-on cups
• The cap and foot termination is more Rudall than Siccama's rounded style
• The top of the barrel has no ring - a common feature in Germany and the US
• The m-shaped bends in the low C key

Image kindly provided by Rick Wilson, mathematician, collector and player.

Cottier

Hugh Cottier certainly seems to have been a flute maker, indeed he showed the Diatonic flute at several exhibitions.  

A quite similar flute to the Pond, especially in the key-work, although the cap and foot end design is more "Siccama".  Again, thanks to Rick Wilson for providing this image.

And, Monzani?  But surely he's dead!

So what's this, lurking in the Dayton C Miller Collection.  It's clearly a Siccama, but it's stamped Monzani & Co.  Now Siccama patented his flute in 1845, and the old English firm of Monzani & Co is only listed to about 1829.  Indeed, Tebaldo Monzani died in Kent in 1839.  But, there's an American Monzani as well, quite probably the son of the "English" Monzani (who was actually from Verona anyway!).  So this has to be the American Monzani, Theobald.

Siccama style flute by Monzani, DCM 0084.

Conclusions

It's easy to see from the above that Siccama's flutes were not just something Siccama thought were good, but there was enough demand that many other makers continued to make them long after his death and in other countries.  What greater tribute?

We'll be bringing you images and details of other flutes made by and influenced by Siccama as they come to hand.

Back to McGee Flutes home page