NMAI Abenaki Inspired Paddle Decoration

This post on the Paleoplanet forums features a beautifully carved and decorated paddle by member, Dauntless.

A closeup of the blade showcases some of the delicate etching...

 

It was apparently inspired by an Abenaki paddle in the outstanding collection of the American Museum of Natural History (see that post full here)

Catalog No: 50.1/ 9825
Culture: ABNAKI, PENOBSCOT
Regions: EASTERN CANADA, NORTHEAST
Dimensions: L:182 W:20 H:3.5 [in CM]
Accession No: 1916-9

Rice Lake Canoe Catalog Paddles

Archive.org has a copy of the Rice Lake Canoe Co. Catalogue dated to 1900. The company was one of the many builders in southeastern Ontario at the turn of the 20th century and it's well illustrated catalogue showcases many style of canoes being built at the time. A short history of the company can be read here for anyone interested.

Page 14 of the document a full page ad with a series of paddles. They're all long deep-water paddles consistent with the deep lake water conditions of region. Check out those prices...$1.00 for an oiled Maple, Ash, or Spruce paddle!

Original Link

Rice Lake Canoe Co. - Paddle Closeups

Cherry Gallery - Maine Guide Red Painted Paddle

The second paddle featured on the Cherry Gallery's October Current Selections page is this classic styled Guide Paddle from Maine. It's been painted with contrasting red paint for the blade and black paint for the shaft / grip. Another big one at nearly 6' long...

Painted Canoe Paddle
This is a classic handmade Maine guide paddle with a wide handle and blade. The blade is painted red and the shaft and handle are black. Handsome for hanging.
Circa 1910
5.5" w, 71" h
$375

Still not as big as this rediculously huge 96" Guide Paddle posted on earlier, but a handsome paddle nontheless.

Undated Canoe Paddle,  96" x 6 - 3/4" 

Cherry Gallery - Model Penobscot Style Canoe Paddle

It's been a while since the Cherry Gallery has posted anything paddle related. Their October current selections page features two interesting antique paddles. The first is a cute model paddle with a distinctive stepped style grip commonly seen in some Penobscot paddles which formed the basis for the classic "Northwoods Style" grip favored by Alexandra Conover-Bennett...

Model Stepped-Handle Canoe Paddle
This small paddle has the classic stepped-handle shape of Maine Penobscot paddles. There is stippled decoration all along its perimeter, and the ever-wise sentiment "Paddle Your Own Canoe" is lettered on the blade to encourage self-reliance.
Circa 1920
2" w, 16.5" h
$165

As a reference, here is (now sold) full-sized Penobscot paddle from another antique dealer in NY (see original post here)...

I'll have a second post up soon to showcase the Cherry Gallery's other paddle up for sale.

Abenaki Birchbark Paddle Stencil

This post from 2012 discussed a book source for some of the double curved motifs used in some of my paddle decorations.  Frank Gouldsmith Speck's  Symbolism in Penobscot art (1927) has some wonderful imagery and thorough historical discussion of these motifs. Figure 12 on Page 43 describes a piece of birchbark used as a stencil template to make symmetrical patterns on a paddle blade.

Recently, I found a similar image on this twitter feed. Apparently an artifact in the Smithsonian's NMAI collection, it is a partial image of a bark template for an Abenaki paddle. I've been unsuccessfully searching for a more complete image with historical details, so for now this image will have to do...

Abenaki, Paddle Stencil (detail)