It's often said that size is not everything. However, for flautists who want to play Handel's sonata in E minor in its entirety a long flute with a low B foot is necessary. This Jacques Polfliet flute is the only flute I own with a low B foot. Its pre-war and was restored by Sally Sloan at Flute Fix (www.flutefix.co.uk). It was bought on ebay for a song and the vendor was one of the friendliest people I have ever come across on line.

 

The stamp is on the headjoint J. Polfliet a Bruxelles. I could not find much about Jacques Polfliet in the internet but he seems to have been well connected with King Albert I and Prince Leopold and he organised a brass band to play for them in 1933 at a royal event. I suspect that he was a retailer rather than a flute manufacturer.
 

 

The foot joint has a flared ending which is quite common on many old flutes. It does not seem to affect the tone so I think its largely aesthetic. 

 

 

Flutes are rather under represented at the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM)  in Brussels which is a pity as there are many famous Belgian flute manufacturers listed in the Langwill guide. However, for anyone interested in Saxophones and Adolf Sax the MIM is the place to go. The Musical Instrument Museum in Berlin has a flute which goes down to low G so perhaps flautists should be grateful that Mr. Handel did not write any Sonatas with this instrument in mind.
I visited the library at the MIM in Brussels earlier this year and they have many documents on file relating to Jacques Polfliet. He was the agent for Couesnon et Cie of Paris for about 35 years upo to 1950 and Couesnon et Cie manufactured flutes and other instruments for him with his own stamp. It is likely that my flute was made in the 1920s or 1930s by Couesnon et Cie of Paris and sold by Jacques Polfliet . The cost of the instrument new was about BFr3000 from the 1926 catalogue which is equivalent to about GBP2000 today (2010).