De Pan

Here's another antique paddle from the archives on LiveAuctioneers.com. It is described as a Penobscot Paddle, circa 1900 with a red-brown pigment on the blade. The delicately shaped handle has wonderful curved features with incised floral and C-scroll designs. It's a long one at 77 inches!


Penobscot Carved Wood Paddle
circa 1900length: 77 inches

The same paddle posted on Skinner Auctions revealed an estimated price of $400-$600 with the final hammer price of $2,370.


Feb 23, 2016 UPDATE: This paddle is now in the collection of the Hudson Museum, University of Maine. For more images and other details see post here. 

LiveAuctioneers has another post-auction listing of a unique Adirondack Steering paddle featuring the distinct diamond grip style.




While not fully visible in the overall paddle view, there is a burned decoration of a mountain lion on the blade.





Many other Adirondack paddles have been featured on the site before (see other posts here). For those who might have missed it, Dr. Gordon L. Fisher published an excellent book back in 2008 thoroughly discussing the interesting history of the paddles in this region.



It also features detailed plans and woodworking tips for carving replicas of surviving Adirondack paddles in museums.  Downloadable PDF excerpts provide a preview of the content.

Thanks to the winter storm hitting my region today (which really isn't that bad in my opinion), my workplace has cancelled all classes...this means a SNOW DAY and a chance to post another paddle picture. This one is from February's "Current Items" page at the Cherry Gallery which features a nice looking Adirondack paddle.


Looks like it has already sold. The details from their site...

Adirondack Guide Boat Paddle
This guide boat paddle has a characteristic elaborately carved diamond-motif handle and a long, narrow blade. The front of the blade is painted with the four playing card suits - perhaps the guide was a gambler...
Circa 1900
5" w, 58.5” h

The carved motif area below the circular grip adds a nice decorative flair to whole piece. Here's another angled shot showing this interesting Adirondack feature.


Diamond Motif on grip