Fórcola (

Venetian dialect Venetian, also known as wider Venetian or Venetan ( or ), is a Romance language spoken natively in the northeast of Italy,Ethnologue mostly in Veneto, where most of the five million inhabitants can understand it. It is sometimes spoken and o ...

, plural ''Fórcole'') is the typical Venetian

rowlock A rowlock (), sometimes spur (due to the similarity in shape and size), oarlock (American English) or gate, is a brace that attaches an oar to a boat. When a boat is rowed, the rowlock acts as a fulcrum for the oar. On ordinary rowing craft, ...

providing a variety of fulcrum positions, each having its own effect on the rower's oar.

Overview

The fórcola is quite a complicated object which developed throughout the centuries in reason of pure functionality. Nowadays only 10 out of 50 traditional Venetian boats are still in use, yet there are about 40 different types of forcolas. Each differs from the others according to both the ship typology and the position of rowing on it. The modern stern fórcola of a

gondola The gondola (, ; , ) is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian lagoon. It is typically propelled by a gondolier, who uses a rowing oar, which is not fastened to the hull, in a scul ...

has eight different points of control to change the speed and the direction of the boat. Every single oxbow and elbow are studied to allow the movements of the oar in the water, which move and govern the boat. There are many possible movements of the oar but the main two are ''prèmer'' and ''stalìr''. Each fórcola is a unique piece since it is specifically designed for its personal ''

gondolier The gondola (, ; , ) is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian lagoon. It is typically propelled by a gondolier, who uses a rowing oar, which is not fastened to the hull, in a scul ...

'' (rower of gondolas), according to his height and rowing needs: a rule specifies that the external gondolier's arm must not go over the chin. Voga alla Veneta (Venetian rowing) — the most common, but not the only, type of rowing in Venice main islands — had its relevance in influencing the final shape of the stern fórcola for gondolas.

Crafting

The fórcola is obtained from a quarter of trunk, usually of a

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an i ...

tree, but also

cherry A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet '' Prunus avium'' and the sour '' Prunus cerasus''. The na ...

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in late summer into mid-autumn. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the Family (biology), family Rosaceae, bearing the Pome, po ...

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

, or

maple ''Acer'' is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the soapberry family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated si ...

tree — 2 or 2.5 meters tall and 60 centimeters wide.

Choice of wood

The first step is the choice of the piece when still soft and young before the cut into quarters. Usually the centre of the trunk is cut down because of the lymphatic canal, easy to crack, and the external part, next to the bark, gets discarded for its darker colour. The ''mòrso'' gets carved from the most internal part of the trunk, while the ''comio'' from the most external one.

Seasoning

The wooden piece is seasoned for a couple of years. Then starts a stage of raw carving — some remèri still use the typical axe of carpenters — after which the piece is left for a year more to season. Without this long seasoning the wood would not acquire those essential qualities to make it endure over the oar friction and atmospheric agents.

Carving

The piece can then pass through a very meticulous stage of carving, which is still mainly made by hand. By starting from some basic templates, the remèr gives shape to the piece using some traditional tools. - the ''fero a do maneghi'' — a two-handled blade — which can have different sizes: the shorter the more appropriate to carve very narrow curves and vice versa. - the ''raschietto'' is used to refine the surface before the finishing: it comes in different sizes just like the ''fero''.

Finishing

The surfaces of the piece are finally refined with sandpaper. The last step is giving two or three coats of a liquid mix composed by oil — ''olio paglierino'' — and a type of petrol. The finishing is together with the seasoning the stage that confers the appropriate physical characteristics to the fórcola.

References

{{reflist

Bibliography

* Caniato, G. (2007). ''L'Arte Dei Remèri''. Verona: Cierre Edizioni. The most recent book on the matter. Text in Italian only. * Penzo, G. (1997). ''Fórcole, Remi e Voga alla Veneta''. Chioggia: Il Leggio. The most specific book on the specifics and data about themaking of rowlocks and oars. Text in Italian and English. * Pastor, S. (1999). ''Fórcole''. Venezia: Mare di Carta, Chioggia: Il Leggio. A very complete and artistic book on forcolas full of beautiful pictures. Text in Italian and English.

External links

Fórcole by ''Saverio Pastor''

Fórcole by ''Franco Furlanetto''

Remèri (carpenter) of Fórcola at the El Felze Association

Venetian Rowing
Rowing in Italy Water transport in Venice Woodcarving