Garsault’s Demi-Paume Racquet from 1767

Demi-Paume racquets feature a distinct lopsided head with a pronounced downward angle. The stringing follows the trebling technique, where the cross strings are looped 360 degrees around the main strings. The handle is wrapped with leather, and the solid wooden frame reflects the craftsmanship of eighteenth-century makers.

Garsault’s Demi-Paume, 1767

The racquet follows the design described by François-Alexandre-Pierre de Garsault in 1767. In his treatise Art du paumier-raquetier et de la paume, Garsault documented the manufacture and use of racquets and balls for jeu de paume in eighteenth-century France. His work captured the construction techniques, terminology, and organization of a craft regulated by professional guilds.

Published as part of the series Descriptions des arts et métiers under the direction of the Académie royale des sciences, Garsault’s text spans thirty-four pages accompanied by five engraved plates. These engravings illustrate the tools, materials, and methods used by the paumiers-raquetiers, the specialized craftsmen recognized by the Paris guild since the early seventeenth century. The treatise provides the first systematic account of their work and vocabulary, including detailed measurements, materials, and processes.

Racquet design according to Garsault, 1767

Among Garsault’s precise observations are references to the racquet head “inclined downward,” to “cross strings wound 360 degrees around the mains,” and to the handle “covered with leather”. He also notes the selection of seasoned hardwoods, used to ensure stability and balance during play. The plates show the various components such as wooden frames, gut strings, balls of tightly wound wool, and the cutting tools employed to shape and smooth the frame. Garsault further comments on the architectural environment of the game, describing galeries couvertes and murs latéraux inclinés, features that defined the enclosed jeu de paume courts of the period.

The principles outlined by Garsault became a technical reference for subsequent racquet makers. His documentation ensured continuity between artisanal craft and the emerging professional sport, establishing a lineage that extended well into the nineteenth century.

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About the Author:

Andreas Fixemer

Berlin Tennis Gallery

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