Sharing some pics of a new discovery

[Roger Young]

Thanks to the kindness of two wonderful canoe/antique loving friends, I am able to share with you some pics of a newly discovered, but as yet unidentified, display sample canoe, likely from the late 1800's, and possibly of Peterborough/Lakefield origin. This lovely old all- wood model will shortly be joining other early sample canoes of both US and Canadian origin currently on loan to the Canadian Canoe Museum, where it will become part of the 'Artisan & Industry' exhibit.

This model is 4' in length, 3 boards per side, flat ribs, no battens, one piece decks, fairly wide thwarts set into blocks. Interestingly, the planks and outwales are attached with tiny screws; a few clenched nails can be seen, but the fastenings are primarily screws. Photos are posted below, with a second set up close-ups following. Your comments are most welcome. Indeed, any thoughts/opinions as to origin will be most gratefully received.

 

[Roger Young]

Some close-up pics of the newly found, as yet unidentified, all-wood sample model.

 

[Roger Young]

This pic may give a better indication of the screws used where one would normally expect to find tacks.

 

[chris pearson]

OMG, so awesome, thanks for sharing Roger!!!!!

 

[Roger Young]

Chris, and others:

We (the Canoe Museum and I) are still searching to identify the possible maker of this 'sample' canoe. It was obviously made by someone with professional skill and expertise. While it exhibits early 'Canadian canoe' characteristics of style and looks, it is constructed in a manner which suggests techniques more often seen in New York/New England shops, and not in Ontario-made canoes - - the feather-lapped, screwed planks, particularly. Any and all thoughts are welcome. We are thinking it dates to the 1885-90 era, or thereabouts. Should anyone be in Peterborough, ON, and visiting the Museum, ask Jeremy Ward about having a closer look. There are a dozen rarely-seen, early factory display samples on exhibit, including: J R Robertson, A E Wickett, E M White, Guy Carleton, Kennebec, Old Town, Ontario Canoe, Peterborough, Chestnut, Rice Lake, J S Stephenson.

Thanks in advance for any input viewers care to contribute.
Roger

 

[Benson Gray]

My guess is a Partelow as I mentioned in my electronic mail message. The thwart attachments strike me as being a uniquely Peterborough/Canadian style. I’ve not been able to find anything to indicate that Rushton or any other builder on this side of the border ever secured thwarts in that way. Therefore, is seems likely that if it was built outside of Canada then it was done as an imitation of the Peterborough style. The only obvious builder then would be H. V. Partelow as shown in the attached circa 1887 catalog pages from the Historic Collection of catalogs. Dan Miller’s article in a recent issue of the Wooden Canoe Journal has more details. Let us know if you, the museum, or anyone else comes up with any better ideas.

Benson

 

[Roger Young]

Hi Benson:
I certainly appreciated your earlier communication to me about Partelow, as well as reading Dan's article. I briefly chatted with him, but I'm not so certain that he entirely favors that attribution. Dan was going to look for some further info on feather-lapped planking. For the moment, I'm inclined your way, and have passed all of this on to Jeremy; we discussed it in some detail last month, before I headed south. Jeremy was going to consult with folks at the Adirondack Museum to see what they might think in terms of guide boat builder influences. Anyway, it's another of those delightfully intriguing canoe-related puzzles. I just thought I'd run it past others, as well, and invite all thoughts. That said, I'm delighted to attribute this to H V Partelow for the moment, and to relish the thought that it likely may be rather unique. It was simply too neat a thing to pass up when the opportunity came calling, whoever built it.
Cheers,
Roger