Photo - Historic Muskoka Paddle

Been out of commission for a while with an absolutely nasty flu that's kept me bed-ridden, feverish, nauseous and otherwise incapacitated since Christmas day...brutal way to spend the holidays but thankfully I've finally recovered on the last day of 2010. Want to wish all of the visitors and online friends to my site a very healthy and prosperous new year.

As a last post for the year, found this online exhibit of the Toronto Public Library with a photo dated 1890 showing off some paddles used in the Muskoka cottage region.


Judge Joseph Easton MacDougall and his family
proudly display their catch at their summer cottage
1890
The lower leaning paddled has an interested scalloped mushroom grip that I've seen on a few paddle designs today.


Closeup of paddles
Wonder how many of these antique paddle gems are still in old boathouses and cottages today?

Historic Photos - Mi'kmaq Guides & Paddles

From this great Virtual Exhibit by the Nova Scotia Archives come some pictures of Mi'kmaq bark canoes and paddles


Mi'kmaq Guides with Party of Sportsmen Fishing from Four Canoes, Digby County
Date: May 1899
Photographer: J.A. Irvine
FULL Citation



Paddle Grip Closeup




Indian Encampment outside Dartmouth, NS
Date: ca. 1900
Photographer: W.L. Bishop
FULL Citation



Paddle Closeup



Mi'kmaq guides from Bear River at camp near Weymouth, N.S.
Date: ca. 1893
Photographer: J.A. Irvine
FULL CITATION



Paddle Closeup


Images courtesy of Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management, Halifax, NS as per their non-commercial use policy

Historic Paddle Illustration - More Robert Petley

Another historic painting from Lieut. Robert Petley (1809-1869) in the Archives & of Canada.


Indian of the Mic-Mac Tribe
Library and Archives Canada
The painting illustrates a hunter armed with his rifle. Slung over his shoulder is a long fishing spear and two slender paddles with flattened, elongated grips. Once again, faint etchings in the main paddle blade reveals some hash marks in a chevron motif. Given that Peltey was a Military artist, I think it is fair to assume that his work would've reflected a certain military precision and attention to detail. Certainly the paddle shape is consistent with what is found in museums of the area.


Closeup

August 2016 Update: Click here to see a higher resolution version of Petley's painting.

World's Oldest Birchbark Canoe

Via this post at InTheBoatShed.net comes a writeup of a new contender for the oldest "surviving" birchbark canoe in the world:


Canoe in pieces


Seeing daylight for the 1st time in years
From the pics, it doesn't look like much but it is amazing how these crafts can be restored to some basic shape and functionality. Apparently, it is thought to be more than 250 years old and was discovered in a barn on the Enys estate near Penryn in Cornwall. It is believed the Canadian boat was brought to Cornwall by Lt. John Enys who fought in Quebec during the American War of Independence.

Until now, the earliest surviving bark canoe was the famous Grandfather Akwetin canoe, a 6 meter Maliseet Ocean canoe estimated to be 185 years old and "re-discovered" in Ireland.

There doesn't seem to be any info on the tribal association of the canoe, but just on casual observation, the bow profile, and distinctive gore cut pattern all the way to the stems look very reminiscent to the c.1896 Penobscot canoe of the Peabody museum that was the focus of the WCHA's online reprint of a a 1948 article from the The American Neptune Volume VIII, No. 4, 1948.


Penobscot Canoe [Catalogue E 14268] in the Peabody Museum of Salem
Plans are the for the canoe to be preserved and put on display to the public at the National Maritime Museum before being repatriated to Canada in September 2011 where it is apparently headed to the Canadian Canoe Museum for more research. Exciting news for us on this side of the pond!

Cherry Gallery Birdseye Paddles

Some more antique paddles from the Current Items page of the Cherry Gallery...



Pair of Bird's Eye Maple Canoe Paddles
These handmade paddles have eye-popping figured maple grain and a graceful shape.
Circa 1930
6.75" w, 60" h
Some close up shots of the grip reveal a half varnished - half oiled grip. You can see how the varnishing has really preserved the grain and color with the oiled grip showing how the rest of the paddle would've aged without this protection.


Check out that birdseye grain!





Also on the page is this very interesting c1890 paddle with supposed native origins...


Great Lakes Canoe Paddle
A Native American paddle made of birch, with a classic blade shape and throat scallop found in paddles from the western Great Lakes areas of Michigan and Wisconsin.
Circa 1890
5.25" w, 60" h
$385
Never really seen the scalloped shoulder pattern on paddle blades before although the "horned grip" looks similar to some exotic paddles I've come across.