Antique Single-soled Curling Stone With Handle
Antique Single-soled Curling Stone With Handle
29377
Antique Granite Curling Stone.
A late 19th or early 20th century single-soled curling stone with a metal and wooden handle. The handle is permanently fixed with lead into a hole that is bored into the top of the stone. Engraved into the top of the stone WT.
The stone is 25 cm in diameter and 12 cm high with out the handle, circumference 82½ cm.
The exact origins of curling are unclear but it is known to have a long history in Scotland, and it was through Scottish immigrants that the game of curling spread to other parts of the world. Early curling was an out door sport that was played on frozen lochs and ponds. Because of the unpredictable weather artificial curling rinks were being made to make a little frost go a long way. Concrete rinks were flooded with small amounts of water so they would freeze solid after a night of frost, thus having a rink to play on when the frozen lochs or ponds were unsafe. The first Curling Clubs were formed in Scotland as were the first rules to standardise curling and its equipment. The Grand Caledonian Curling Club was founded in Edinburgh in 1838, they formally adopted these new rules and became the sport's governing body. They heavily supported the use of round granite stones and rather than eight players each throwing a single stone it changed to a team of four players using two matched stones each. Four years later, in 1843, Her Majesty Queen Victoria so fascinated by the game demonstrated on the polished floor of the ballroom of Scone Palace near Perth she granted the Club the title of Royal Caledonian Curling Club. Curling was firmly established in Canada by the Scots with The Royal Montreal Curling Club being established in 1807, the oldest sports club still active in North America.
Dimensions:
1850-1899
C. 1870
Granite
Scotland
Good original condition.
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