Vintage Real Tennis Racket
Vintage Real Tennis Racket
29919
Vintage Harris Real Tennis Racket.
A good real tennis racket with original black stringing (one broken string) made by T.A.J. Harris, London. The ash frame in good condition with the characteristic offset or tilt-top shape. There is the remains of a label on the side of the square handle "T.A.J. Harris", the butt of the handle stamped 'Harris'.
'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 so that there were many hundreds of courts throughout Europe, 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. Grays of Cambridge (UK) and Harrow Sports (USA) are the only two companies in the world still hand-crafting these racquets. 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:
1900-1949
Circa 1940's
Ash
England
Racket in good sound condition, no warping. One broken horizontal string.
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 made by T.A.J. Harris, London. The ash frame in good condition with the characteristic offset or tilt-top shape. There is the remains of a label on the side of the square handle "T.A.J. Harris", the butt of the handle stamped 'Harris'.'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 so that there were many hundreds of courts throughout Europe, 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. Grays of Cambridge (UK) and Harrow Sports (USA) are the only two companies in the world still hand-crafting these racquets. 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).){kind=link}