Display Canoe From The Maine State Museum

[Benson Gray]

The book titled "A Story of Maine in 112 Objects: From Prehistory to Modern Times" by Bernard Fishman features an early painted display canoe as item number 91 starting on page 340. The text notes that Rollin Thurlow and Jerry Stelmok feel that "its construction techniques, including very narrow ribs, may link it to very early Canadian examples." This canoe is not currently on display at the Maine State Museum and I haven't seen it in person. Does anyone here know of any other canoes that were built or painted like this?

Benson

 

[Benson Gray]

The restoration of this canoe was recently featured in a video posted by the Maine State Museum at the two links below. The back side appears to show the Mount Kineo House as it appeared in the print at https://www.geographicus.com/P/AntiqueMap/mooseheadlake-langerfeldt-1886 from 1886. It would be fun to see this canoe in person.

Benson

5.1K views · 114 reactions | Happy First Day of Spring! Our version of “spring cleaning” is a bit more intensive than most… Watch and see how conservator Nina Roth-Wells unearths vibrant colors and lively hunting and fishing scenes on a late 19th-c

Happy First Day of Spring! Our version of “spring cleaning” is a bit more intensive than most… Watch and see how conservator Nina Roth-Wells unearths vibrant colors and lively hunting and fishing...

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[MGC]

Hopefully it will be displayed again after the restoration is completed. It's been hidden away for 30 years. The narrow ribs aside, the lines do resemble what we have come to accept as "classic" Maine canoe lines.
I agree. It would be nice to see this canoe in person.

 

[Benson Gray]

Zac arranged with Angela from the Maine State Museum who kindly arranged for Ben Fuller and me to join them for an in person inspection of this canoe today. It is outstanding and clearly very old. Ben suggested that it looks like a experienced boat builder's idea of how to make a birch bark style canoe using canvas over a form. The ribs are unusually small with thick planking relative to a modern wood and canvas canoe. The ends and thwarts are secured with wire instead of spruce root. The painting and pin striping on the exterior is outstanding. The stern seat is canvas with a narrow strip of wood on the leading edge. A Google image search has not located a match for the painted design on the seat. Ben and Zac will probably jump in with their own comments and pictures. This will be on display next fall.

Benson

 

[MGC]

Could you tell if the planking is lapped?
Is the doubling material over the stem's canvas? It looks like it.

 

[Benson Gray]

The planking seems to be beveled like a White. The ends appear to be doubled canvas, not brass like a White. Let me know if this doesn't answer your questions. Thanks,

Benson

 

[Benson Gray]

 

[1905Gerrish]

A few more of this special one. Note the paint scrolls on the top of the thwart. The narrow hardwood ribs are interesting for sure. There were no cant ribs in the canoe. A couple later additions many decades later. No so called "canoe tacks" were used in the build. Much larger nails than what we are used to. Wedges were driven into the middle of the made up rails ends to tighten the copper wire. Decks were 22" in length.

 

[MGC]

There seem to be some similarities between this canoe, and the one that you posted about last September. https://forums.wcha.org/threads/what-do-we-have-here.21613/ These seem to be built in similar styles.
Rockwood, Kineo, Moosehead, these are all synonymous to paddlers and fisherman. Sports and guides have been trying to time the turn in that area for a very long time. Big, safe canoes were essential to make the crossing from Rockwood to Kineo. It may be one of the narrowest spots on the lake, but it can be extremely challenging. Once you try it in a canoe, you won't forget it.
Seeing the similarities in these (half ribs, wire fastening, decks, stems, doubled canvas) is intriguing.

 

[andy52]

Oil on canvas, this where function meets art! Absolutely stunning.

 

[dtdcanoes]

WOW, and I see Jerry Stelmok is cut from the same cloth. Extraordinary function in a striking form, enfolded in a passionate artistic expression.
Oh, to contemplate the possibility of a brave soul coming on with a reproduction of this canoe. As has been said, " If I were a young man...."
Maybe a commission by the WCHA - a project managed by , hmmm, I wonder.
Dave

 

[Henri Vaillancourt]

There is definitely a connection between this canoe and the one in https://forums.wcha.org/threads/what-do-we-have-here.21613/ ...the one I collected ( the half canoe ) in 1970 from the Moosehead lake area. I would not venture to say it was made by the same person , but that these bark canoe features seemed to be quite common early on . and you can see them in the lines and details of the well known builders from that era

 

[1905Gerrish]

Here is detailed photo of a very similar canoe that we can add to the discussion. The well known photo of a famous Maine Guide, Ed Grant on Beaver Pond in Rangeley Plantation Maine. Ed Grant founder of iconic Grants camps on Kennebago Lake, Rangeley Maine. Edwin R. Starbird took the photo in the " Woods of Maine" series post 1892. Noted, the protruding stems above the decks and the long outwales that extend beyond the decks. The rear deck looks similar to the painted museum canoes. The front appears to be a piece of canvas that I believe could be used as a spray deck as I have seen in other old canoe photos. I do know for certainty that the rifle the hunter is holding is a Winchester model 1895 introduced in 1895.

 

[1905Gerrish]

There is definitely a connection between this canoe and the one in https://forums.wcha.org/threads/what-do-we-have-here.21613/ ...the one I collected ( the half canoe ) in 1970 from the Moosehead lake area. I would not venture to say it was made by the same person , but that these bark canoe features seemed to be quite common early on . and you can see them in the lines and details of the well known builders from that era

Thanks for joining us Henri.