La Forcola, the work of a craftsman and an artist

The Remer Paolo Brandolisio in his workshop in Venice

The Remer Paolo Brandolisio 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.

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.

Paolo Brandolisio

Paolo is one of the last remeri of Venice, he succeeded one of most grand master remeri, the maestro Giuseppe Carli, who passed all his art on to him.

Paolo Brandolisio works in most cases for the gondoliers of Venice and sculpts the famous forcole for them. Every forcola is tailor-made according to the size of the gondolier.

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

The workshop of Paolo Brandolisio

4725, Calle Corte Rota
30122 Venezia
Phone and Fax : +39 041 522 41 55

Forcole di Saverio Pastor