Cavallo e Barca Grande

We board most of our gondola cruises in the same docks 
as some of the big charter yachts.

Here's one of the brass horses of my gondola The Phoenix, 
with the 90 foot vessel Dream Maker in the background.

Such contrast.

Just the Photo - Siren

Just the Photo - Cavallo Bello

photo by Cassandra Mohr

Cavallo Soto Ponte

 

Indirect light reflects off a single brass horse

in the shade of the Newport Blvd. bridge.

Sky Blue Cavalli

The other day I was on a training row with a guy, who had gotten to
the point where I could just sit in the passenger seat and relax. 
As we came out from under the Newport Boulevard bridge,
with the sun high in the sky, I noticed that the light blue floorboards
of my gondola The Phoenix were getting direct sunlight - which was then reflecting off of the polished brass cavallo.

The end result made for an unusual photo - "sky blue cavallo".

Dolphin and Trident

photo by Candace Benson

Cavalli are the impressive brass fixtures that decorate gondolas
and a few other rowed passenger vessels from Venice.

Most cavalli are designed on a horse theme - which makes sense
as "cavalli" translates to "horses".
There are some deviations though.

Here we see one version of the "dolphin and trident" design.
Taking a closer look, you might think that the "dolphin" looks more like
a serpent-like sea monster, but what we're looking at here is an example
of how the ancients saw dolphins.

The Horses Made it to Minnesota

photo by John Kerschbaum

 

 Somebody sat on one of John's cavalli!

Can you believe it?

 

And then after they sat on it, the top half of the unit broke off and fell into the St. Croix river!  Thus leaving John's boat with one brass horse, and the broken-off base of another.

Of course he had to remove them both - and a Venetian gondola without cavalli just doesn't look right. 

     It's like a camp without a fire,

               a fig without a newton, 

                         the sky without a sun!

 

Something had to be done.

 

Over the years I've been collecting gondola parts - some have come off of decommissioned boats of my own, others came from friends. 

I call it the "parecio bank". 

My wife: not a fan, as it means having lots more stuff than we should probably have sitting around.

 

"Parecio" is the catch-all term for decorative and removable parts of a gondola.

The idea being that sooner or later someone would need something. 

In Minnesota, that "sooner or later" came when some guy sat on one

of John's cavalli.

 

John Kerschbaum of Gondola Romantica called me and shared his frustrating tale, and behold, my hoarding ways were vindicated, justified!

          I jumped for joy.

                    John jumped too.

 

It turned out that a while ago my friend Joe Gibbons in Boston had been cleaning up for a move and (possibly at the encouragement of his wife)

sent me a few boxes of gondola related things. amongst it all, there were two nice, well-aged cavalli. They were the perfect answer to John's problem.

 

Of course they had to be blessed first.

I brought them to the most recent get-together at Sunset Gondola and we passed them around, someone spilled a little red wine on them, and lots of positive energy (and a few playful insults and idle threats) were sent to Minnesota.

"Sunset to Mothers 3 - Fondling the Cavalli"

 

Now John's boat is no longer naked,

the existence of my "parecio bank" has been justified,

and there's a pair of cavalli in Minnesota with a very interesting story to tell.

 

My wife is still not totally convinced, but she is happy to have a little more space now behind the TV.

Sunset to Mothers 3 - Fondling the Cavalli

After the presentation of marineri,
Tim talked about the upcoming Gondola Nationals taking place in late October.  Then I asked for the floor and did a little baiting of my own.

 

On this occasion, I chose to single out John Kerschbaum in Minnesota,

but I'm hoping that any and all gondoliers reading this will consider

joining us in southern California for a great series of events.

To Polish or not to Polish

photos by Joe Gibbons

Joe Gibbons of Gondola di Venezia sent me this one.
He writes:

Our older gondola "Firenze" here in Boston is 18 years old this season.

As you know this boat was aquired through Danielle Bonaldo's Squero. Our original intention was to have just the one gondola built "Maria" by Thom Price back in 2000/2001
As our gondola progressed with all the carvings and great detail,

a local friend of Danielle, also a gondolier with a few bucks attempted to purchase our new gondola. This situation was stressful and disappointing to say the least. After considerable negotiation and frustration, Thom Price stepped up for us and brokered us a great deal that ulimatley got us Firenze and Maria. 

Danielle's friend was willing to wait considering the squero was going to replicate our gondola for him. Also knowing now he had a buyer for his gondola which was built in 1994.

My initial reaction to all of this was full of four letter words, but in the end we really got a great deal and on top of that we actually developed a friendship with this Venetian gondolier and his family. They actually attended the Vardo ceremony at the squero before the gondolas were shipped here to Boston Win-Win!!

The real prize was in the end, they sent their Cavalli off with us to Boston. They were not included in the deal (a gift to us) but we think they got some nostalgic vibe by having their gondola and Cavalli gracing the water here in the USA. 

      This pair of Cavali has adorned several gondolas and stayed with this family for many years. My recollection was that the previous gondolier claimed they could be 60 plus years old. This would make them antiques!  I do not doubt it! Looking at the iron stands that pass through the corbala and the detail in the brass, not to mention the actual size and weight..They are very unique considering the newer cavalli we see today.

     Here comes the dilemma! Do we polish these bad boys and really show them off and give Firenze the respect and dignity that we feel she demands.She is a lady after all, and I've yet to meet a lady that wants to look old and dull.  Or simply let time, age and some dulling effects of the patina reflect the true grace and character of this beautiful boat. 

    As you can see in the photo above we have made our decision,

but I would like to hear what other enthusiasts out there have to say Good or Bad!

So, If there's one thing I know about gondoliers
(aside from the fact that they're interesting),
is that they all have opinions.
What would you do?
Polish or not polish?
Leave a comment - even if you don't have cavalli of your own.

One-of-a-Kind

After all these years of obsession, I've come to appreciate all the subtle differences between gondolas in Venice. To the untrained eye they may all look the same, but when you're a gondola fanatic, you develop an ability to discern minute differences in design and finish.

And then one day you see something like this:

That's anything but "subtle".

The carvings are actually classic in design - reminding me of some of the work Il Santo was made famous by.
I admired the boat owner's bold sense of style.

I also got a kick out of the expression on the face of one of his passengers.

I mean you'd have thought it was his boat and I needed to ask permission to talke pictures of it.

Taking a closer look at the workmanship here, there are a few other things to point out.

the spire of a gondola deck usually has some sort of trim stretching from the back of the ferro to the brass plate on the trasto di prua - carved "rope-work" is typical. This gondola has a very noticeable knob-like carving every eight inches or so.

The perimeter of the carved field has clouds or similar objects which make the edges more interesting. As if it wasn't a big enough job already, the intagliador went one step further, and gave the background a criss-cross pattern.

(To read more about intagliadors, see my post "What is a Wedding Gondola?" )

This gondolier was clearly on a mission to create a gondola like no other.

I'd say he succeeded.

The addition of an engraved design on the ferro just seems like standard issue on this boat.

Now here's something most of you probably haven't realized:

the boat we've been looking at here is the same one featured in my post "Barbarian Cavalli" .

Is it any surprise that this gondolier, after putting so much into his boat, would go with custom (and rather creative) cavalli.

I have a feeling that nobody could ever swipe this boat and get away with it. She's truly one-of-a-kind.

Gothic Cavallo?

While exploring the Museo Storico Navale (Venice's maritime museum and a true hidden gem), I noticed this dramatic piece mounted on the wall near some amazing boats on display.

There wasn't any sign or descrition anywhere indicating what the piece was. My guess is that it's a cavallo, but it could have been mounted somewhere else on a boat.

Anybody out there got cavalli like this on their gondola?

Curci Cavalli

In many ways, the"Lucia" (Curci family gondola) is both a time capsule and an example of privately owned gondolas.

She was brought to Newport Beach in 1964 and has been maintained with great dedication - almost like a rare classic car.

Not surprisingly, the "Lucia" has cavalli that are old, well-kept, and unique. I'm not sure whether they are typical of gondolas in the 60's, but I wouldn't be surprised if they are.

Like many cavalli, they have a main character that's part horse, part sea-creature.

But in this case the horse is ridden by a cherub.

The founders who cast these pieces long ago, didn't create the design with symmetry either - each cavallo has a front and a back.

Almost ten years ago I was honored to be part of a major restoration of this historic gondola. I got to oversee all the metal on the boat, and these cavalli were part of that effort. They were polished and clearcoated by the professionals at Normandy Metal Refinishers in Costa Mesa.

The combination of high-grade clearcoating, and dry storage, have kept these cavalli in show-condition.

Cavallo at Sunset Gondola

Cavalli take many forms.
Most have some sort of horse motif - after all, the word "cavalli" means "horses". Others though have angels, mermaids, dolphins and other animals as their theme.
This cavallo appears to be a sheild-bearing mermaid.

The boat is one of Sunset Gondola's vessels in Huntington Harbour.
Dubbed the "Michaela", she was built in the early 90's in San Trovaso by Constantini Dei Rossi.

Tim Reinard, owner of Sunset Gondola,
tells me that she was the "first boat Roberto Dei Rossi's uncle let him do serious work on."
Imported by Angelino Sandri, she operated in Florida and Oakland before arriving in Huntington Harbour.

Just the Photo - Cavallo in Copenhagen

Plucked with permission from Simon Bognolo's website.

Golden Horse

I found a close-up of one of the gold cavalli from the wedding gondola post and thought it would make a nice follow up.
It turns out that after I shot a series of photos from the Rialto,
I encountered the same boat later on and took this picture.

This one's for Steve Roman. Hope you like it Steve!

Barbarian Cavalli

As you stand along a well-traveled canal, you can pick out the subtle differences between the different gondolas that pass by. Many have small details that point towards a theme, but in an understated way.

This was not the case with the boat in this post.

When this gondola cruised by, and I saw the cavalli, I half expected to see Conan the Barbarian rowing on the back.

The brass dragon-like creatures were bold and had a look all their own. Many other areas on the boat, such as the pusioli and fodre had carvings that matched the cavalli that seemed to hint that the gondolier would rather play heavy metal than host an accordion player on his boat.

Here's a close-up of one of the brass beasts:

And the other:

As each gondolier strives to make his boat a little different from the rest, some are more bold than others.

I'm not sure I'd like to see all the beautiful and traditional brass horses in Venice replaced by heavy-metal dragons, but I've gotta give the guy some credit for stepping out and making a statement.

And of course, if some other gondolier steals his cavalli, they won't be hard to spot when they show up on another boat.

Rediscovering Cavalli

A few weeks ago I was contacted by a guy named Steve Roman in Minnesota who wanted to talk about cavalli.
I've been obsessing over gondolas and the places they operate for 17 years now and have come to realize that there's always something new to learn. Just when you think you've seen it all, you're proven wrong by something new...or something you hadn't yet noticed.

As Steve and I talked, it became obvious that he was a fan of gondolas, but more specifically, he'd become a true afficionado of the brass fixtures that mount midship on both sides of the boat.

We call them "cavalli" (which translates to "horses") because the traditional manifestation comes in the shape of a horse with the rear-quarters of a fish or other sea creature.

Two of Steve's cavalli.

If you've been cruising the internet looking for interesting cavalli auctions, chances are good that you've found yourself bidding against Steve Roman.
In his quest for more knowledge on cavalli, Steve came upon this video clip from the Fonderia Valese.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I must admit that I never really gave much thought to the actual process that goes into creating these beautiful works of art - and that's really what they are, "works of art".Not all gondolas have cavalli, but almost all Venice-built ones do, and even some built elsewhere are adorned with these beautiful brass sculptures.
Many gondoliers feel that a gondola without cavalli is "naked".Cavalli often take the horse, or "hippocampus" form, but some are cast as angels, sirens, and sea-creatures. They also come in different sizes and levels of detail. Small ones can weigh less than a pound, while the more impressive and showy ones can tip the scale at more than 30 pounds.
And while all cavalli are not created equal, they are also not all finished the same either - there are highly polished cavalli, nickel-plated ones, and of course the gold-plated ones.

Many thanks go to Steve Roman for bringing this one under-appreciated detail of the gondola into clearer focus.
To visit the website of Fonderia Valese, go to www.valese.it/index.htm.