1960-70s William Koch Sr. Recorder

This elegant recorder was designed, hand-lathed and finished in the Haverhill, New Hampshire workshop of preeminent American maker William F. Koch, Sr. (1892-1970). Koch recorders were produced beginning in about 1932 until about the mid-1970s. He made sopranos and altos in the greatest numbers, followed by tenors and comparatively few bass recorders. For several decades the Kochs produced recorder footjoints with a rounded top section, but sometime during the 1960s they began producing footjoints with a straight, tapered profile. Around this period, they also used a more elaborate maker's stamp that included their location of Haverhill, NH. That also appears on the beak of this recorder (see photos). Two very distinctive, unique, features on their sopranos, altos and tenors, set the Koch instruments apart from other makers. First, there are the very small brass pins on either side of the beak that are inserted to stabilize the cork or fipple. Second, the main body of the recorder has no cork on the tenon that slides into the headjoint. Instead the wall of the headjoint is lined with cork. This was probably done for aesthetic reasons; when the recorder is pulled out or pushed in for tuning, there is no break in the flow of the external design and no “naked” cork shows. The Kochs were American pioneers in crafting recorders out of rare tropical woods like Cocobolo but they were also well known for using local varieties like birch, elm, walnut Koch recorders of any size or wood are rare, musically prized for their warm bold timbre, and highly collectible examples of the American arts-and-crafts movement; a number of Koch instruments (father and son) are now in museum collections. This instrument is stamped “Koch Haverhill NH” on the back of the beak (mouthpiece) in the exposed block area. I believe this to be an alto recorder but am not sure.... This exquisite instrument comes in the original box with the original cleaning pieces. Pickup category timeslot {A}