1871 Daniel Herald's Patent double layered Cedar Board Canoe

[coolcars]

I own what I believe to be a Daniel Herald's 16' patented double layered cedar board canoe. I acquired this from the original owners great grandson who still resides in Bracebridge Ont. The canoe spent its whole life at a cottage on Muskoka Lake in northern Ontario. It was in dry storage for over 60 years and is still in the same condition I found it in. The great grandson had intentions of restoring it some day but is now retired and lost interest. The original canvas has long gone and it has had some paint added over time. There are thousands of original nails. The original grey paint is still inside. The original makers stamp reads D HERALD BUILDER GORES LANDING RICE LAKE ONT CANADA PATENTED DEC. 16 1871. Im not sure when this one was actually made. I have had some interest in people wanting to purchase it but have never been able to find out whether this is a valuable canoe or anyone who has sold one in the past. I have searched for information and photos on this style but there is not to much available. Although it does need some work some have said leave it as found and others have said have it restored. If anyone has any information reguarding this canoe please let me know. Thank You

 

[Paul Miller]

You have what appears to be the painted version of the Herald canoe which was a user level boat. Your canoe would have been painted from the factory, not covered in canvas. It's difficult to tell from the pictures, but he painted version would have had Basswood planking. The Cedar Varnished version was top of the line and most valuable today.

The condition is on the poor side, but this is still a collectable canoe.

We typically don't use this section of the forum for selling canoes or making offers.

If you can figure out how to do it go to your private messages.

Thanks,

Paul

 

[pklonowski]

There are what looks like shreds of canvas in image 3, still stuck under the outwale and the stem band. Could it have been canvassed in some previous restoration effort?

 

[coolcars]

Hi Paul
after a closer look I would say that the outside was originally painted deep green because thats the color under the blue. Blue was painted some time after and then it was eventually canvased over the blue and painted grey by the owner I asume. The tops ends have two shades of grey paint. Deeper grey being the original. Im guessing that the grey was applied from the company? So when this was built it would have been deep green outside with gray inside. Thanks for your info.

 

[H.E. Pennypacker]

Your Dan Herald is fairly original, but it was canvased at one time by someone presumably trying to make it water-tight. There's also a fair amount of rot/damage, all of which could be repaired with care. The fasteners look like iron, which would have been normal for a low-grade double cedar canoe, and these were normally painted at the factory. It looks like someone tried to remove the exterior paint and got through the blue, but the green has really stained the wood. You could varnish the interior which appears to be cleaning up nicely, and paint the exterior. The iron will be there forever, though, and may lead (if it hasn't already) to some ugly black stains around each tack. By the way, the downward-curving thwarts are probably original - this is a hallmark of Herald's work.