Help with any info about old canoe

[John AR]

Hi
I wonder if anybody could give me any information about this canoe? Its about 16' long. Possible maker, provenance, age etc. I can't find any labels, markings or serial no on it. I am happy to post more photo's if it would help. I live in North Wales, UK. I picked it up at an auction locally.
Thanks
John.

 

[Kathryn Klos]

Very very nice. I don't know what you have, but it is very nice. It seems familiar but I can't connect the dots... Great find!

Kathy

 

[Treewater]

Agreed, a very very nice canoe. You might inspect those ribs to determine if they are steamed and bent or carved from tree roots like an Adirondack guide boat. That will narrow the possibilities.

 

[kayamedic]

Picture of entire hull open side up. It has guideboat lines. I can't tell if it has one seat or two. What I think is the bow station looks incredibly tight. The interior construction looks like an Adirondack guideboat.

 

[Dan Miller]

It is nothing like a guideboat.

While it could be an import, it looks British to me. I would look towards R.J. Turk as being one possibility for the builder. See attached advertisement.

Dan

 

[John AR]

Thanks for your replies. I've taken more photos (had to wait for weather to improve over here) and uploaded them. I was very interested in Dan's comment. I think there probably is more chance of it being British than an import. I had never heard of R J Turk but after doing what research I could I found they were founded in 1710 and are still going. Their main business now is champagne parties on board their Thames boats. I did find an auction in 2010 in Turks Boatyard selling of their collection of boats and film props. One of the lots (https://www.apexauctions.com/auction-us/itemDetails.htm?lotId=38398) looks a similar Canadian canoe to mine. They suggest it was made by somebody called Saunders in 1890. I can't find any trace of them. I don't suppose anybody on here would know anymore about either R J Turk or Saunders or where I might look for more info on British makers. Old catalogs etc.

John.