French Brouaye Real tennis Racket

French Brouaye Real tennis Racket

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Reference

27110

Real Tennis Racket.
A rare real tennis racket, manufactured by Brouaye, France, with the original black course gut stringing. The ash head racquet is stamped 'BROUAYE', the convex wedge is covered in green material with one side dated 1886.

'Real Tennis' is the original and oldest of all the racket sports and dates back many hundreds of years, and is sometimes called "the sport of Kings" or Royal Tennis. The game has evolved from its early years and by the early part of the 19th Century its popularity was at its height, but by the end of the 19th century with the introduction of 'Lawn Tennis' its popularity waned and many of the courts fell into disuse. The real tennis racket is designed with a lop-sided head to help strike the ball when it is close to the corners of the court or the floor. The handles are longer in 'Real Tennis' than in 'Lawn Tennis' and have very tight strings to cope with the heavy cloth balls. The 'Real Tennis' court is asymmetrical with high walls and a ceiling. It is enclosed by walls on all four sides, three of which have sloping roofs, known as 'penthouses', various openings in the walls 'galleries' (from which spectators may view the game) and a main wall which has a kink in it (tambour).

Dimensions:

Height 68 cm / 27"
Width 18 cm / 7 "
Depth 3.5 cm / 1 "
Year

Circa 1880's

Medium

Ash

Country

France

Signed

1886

Condition

The frame very good. The stringing damages as seen on the images.

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