Coming face to face with history

Wow! I have been so busy that I haven’t had the chance to update my blog for most of this year!  Time to correct that.

In my last post, I was dealing with the challenges of reproducing an 1891 trophy oar from the famed Leander Club.  I was able to confirm that the oar was done with gold leaf, rather than gold paint, but the real problems was what was the original colour of the oar.  The oar I was reproducing was clearly very faded.  So I went on the hunt for a counterpart for this oar.

By the end of the Second World War, Leander was rowing with pink oars, as you can see from the very beautiful needle blade below, but this was clearly not the colour used in 1891.

Thanks to Diana and Richard Way at Way’s Bookstore in Henley-on-Thames, I knew it had to be much closer to red. They have a trophy oar from 1899 hanging in their book shop, but it too is faded, even if it is less faded than the one in Leander Club itself. What was clear was that in the 1890s, Leander rowed with oars painted in some shade on red. But how bright was this shade of red 130 years ago?

Just when I was about to give up and simply use my best guess, an unexpected saviour came to my aid.

The stroke of the 1891 Leander Eight was the legendary Bill Kent.  A friend was talking to Bill’s grandson, John Kent, about the problem I was facing.  John took everyone by surprise by saying: “I can solve the puzzle.  I have four of my grandfather’s Leander trophy oars.”  My friend told me he just about fell off his seat.

Not only was John telling the truth, but being the gentleman he is, he sent a photo of the four trophy oars!  I found myself coming face to face with history.

These oars are in excellent condition.  In fact, they are in mint condition, as they have been carefully preserved, away from light and heat, and are as glossy as the day they were created.

I thought it was really interesting that three of Bill Kent’s trophy oars were painted by the same maker as the one I was reproducing, but his 1891 trophy oar was different in design, and clearly done by a different craftsman.  

Anyway, now I knew the colour I had to paint the oar, and in my next post, I will tell you how I was able to pull off this special commission.