canoe maker

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!

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.

Swung by the Great Outdoors & DIY Show this past weekend at the Toronto International Centre. For a reasonable door fee, one was granted access to 4 shows under one roof (The Fall Cottage Life Show, Canadian Handyman Show, Outdoor Canada and Explore Show).

A few canoe related exhibitors were there including:
� Swift with their display of quality Badger Canoe Paddles (now including a complementary paddle sock)
� Muskoka Paddle Shack with their futuristic Carbon fibre ottertail paddle
� The Canadian Canoe Museum had a booth with a paddlemaking demo and a quaint c1950's, 12ft Bastien Brothers Trapper Canoe

However, the most appealing booth in my biased opinion was the wonderful exhibit featuring the gorgeous paddle creations of Bruce Smith. The visitor was greeted with a wall to wall display of hanging paddles made from a wide array of hardwoods with unique grain patterns. A real eye pleaser was a paddle made from wormy walnut with a fusion blend of creamy and dark colours swirling around the blade. I was kicking myself for not bringing the camera!

Mike Ormsby of Reflections on the Outdoors Naturally blog was helping at the booth and was kind enough to introduce me to Bruce as a fellow paddle maker. With Bruce's permission here are some shots of some of his work from his website, including his trademark grip with a secondary position.


Cherry Ottertail; Bruce's Unique Grip


Sweet looking Walnut paddle


Collection on display
We discussed some ideas about certain woods with Bruce sharing his experience of creating a paddle made from a harvested Tamarack log. Always wondered about this tough wood as a spruce substitute. Here are some photos of Bruce�s booth at show (courtesy of Mike Ormsby)




Also on display was Mike's gorgeous wood canvas canoe built in Bruce's shop. A real stunner complete with cherry gunwales and delicately carved thwarts. What really caught my attention though were the wide, but thin ribs very reminiscient of the Chesnut Ogilvy described on Mike Elliot's Kettle River Canoe Blog. A very hearty construction that also seems easier on the knees that than thicker, widely spaced ribs on my boat. Photos by Mike Ormsby...




According to Mike O's blog, Bruce plans to hold some paddle making workshops sometime in May for the extremely reasonable cost of $100 - a real bargain in my opinion and a perfect opportunity for a novice to learn the craft from a skilled woodworker. More info by contacting Bruce directly.

Found this shot on FlickR featuring some decorative "voyageur" paddles at the CL Sommers Canoe Base in Minnesota.


They look very familiar to a paddle I posted on featured at 2008 Indian Summer Festival held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.


The paddle; The carved grip
I knew I had seen the distinct red tips somewhere before and then realized it was in a historical painting by Frederick Verner. Not the clearest image, but you can just make out the red tip on the paddle in the foreground.


Ojibway Indian Encampment
by Frederick Arthur Verner, 1873
Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph, Ontario

Here's an image of a circa 1900 Odawa paddle with decorative etchings referenced in an out of print exhibition catalog, The art of the Great Lakes Indians. Flint, Mich.: Flint Institute of Arts, 1973. p. 98.


Ottawa Canoe Paddle
c.1900
Maple
Length: 136.5cm
Blade width: 10cm
The curator at the Logan Museum of Anthropology was kind enough to send me additional details to post. The paddle, made around 1900, was purchased from Margaret Ashkanock in 1917 in Cross Village, Michigan by Albert Green Heath. The descriptive catalog information refers to the object as a "wooden paddle carved in geometric designs and heart shapes, triangular hole in handle." Despite not being visible on this B&W image, there are traces of red and gray paint between the engraved decorations on the top of blade.

An expired (2007) listing on the LiveAuctioneers.com site lists an original painting by Philip Russell Goodwin (1881-1935) showing two hearty men poling a birchbark canoe. It eventually sold for $30 000!


Framed Piece; Closeup

Lot # 0130
Estimates: $15000 - $25000
Start Price: $10000
Description GOODWIN, Phillip Russell, (American, 1881-1935): Illustration, possibly for a Remington ad, depicting two men poling a canoe down river rapids, Oil/C, 30" x 20", signed and dated 1909, bears partial label verse "and Meelsins went up the Montreal and staked the mine", original frame 35 1/2" x 25 1/2". Small portion of inpaint with tiny patch visible verso, mid-upper right quadrant has minor fleck, pinpoint puncture in man's pant leg, needs cleaning.
Hammer Price $30000

November 2010 current items at the Cherry Gallery features an Adirondack Guide Paddle circa 1890...

A delicate cherry guide boat paddle with a lollipop top and a diamond shaped and chamfered upper shaft. Good original surface, with minor damage to one edge of the blade. Circa 1890
4.75" w, 66" h
$1,200

The "lollipop" grip the description refers to is similar to a historic one documented in Dr Gordon L Fishers's 2008 publication Guideboat Paddles: An Adirondack Treasure. Specifically, it resembles the grip design popularized by Adirondack Guide and Boatbuilder, Caleb Judson Chase and is often referred to as an Arrowhead Motif grip.


Arrowhead Motif
An online excerpt (.PDF format) of Fisher's book has some photos of the author carving out this interesting grip shape (see last page of excerpt - pg 60). The book has a nice schematic of this grip design with a table of offsets for the blade in the appendix section. I'm planning to get more lumber stock in a few weeks and figure I'll attempt this new grip design as a winter project.