La Forcola, the work of a craftsman and an artist

The workshop of Saverio Pastor, the sculptor from Forcole, at Fondamenta Soranzo de la Fornace, in the Dorsoduro District of Venice.

Les Forcole by Saverio Pastor The forcola (fork) is the fulcrum of a boat's oar : it it is the key part of the boat that is subject to all the stresses of manoeuvring and propulsion.

The gondolas and their distinctive forcole (plural) are made exclusively in Venice. made in Venice.

The Squeri build the gondolas and the Remeri make the oars and sculpt the forks. the oars and sculpt the forcole.

Each to his own speciality, which is not the case of the squeri of the Lagoon, who build all sorts of boats for work or pleasure or pleasure boats and deliver them complete with oars and forcole. forcole.

The remeri are craftsmen who work for gondoliers and for regates enthusiasts.

Each forcola is made made custom-made depending on the size and build of the gondolier.

‘Fitting’ of Forcole at Remer Saverio Pastor’s workshop

There are forcole “di poppa”, for the stern, or “di prua”, for the bow rower for boats with several rowers.

The forcole also varies according to the type of boat: gondola, gondolino, caorlina, mascareta, sandolo, pupparino...

If you'd like to take a hand-carved forcole home with you, there are also scale models available.

Prices vary from 100 to 180 €, depending on the size and type of forcola, for gondola or pupparino for example.

If you want to bring back at you a hand sculpted forcole, remer carves scaled down models. A very nice model of about one-third of real size costs 150 Euro.

Forcole di Saverio Pastor