An unexpected highlight of a recent sale at Sworders in Stansted Mountfitchet was this set of four early real tennis rackets. They came from a client in the North of England and had been owned by the family for many years.
Real tennis or courte pause is the original indoor racquet sport from which the modern game of lawn tennis is descended with these 2ft 2in (67cm) rackets a far cry from today’s light graphite and fibreglass models. They are made with ash frames and trebled gut stringing with probably later material grips.
Rackets and balls were typically made by the maître-paumiers, often professional players or proprietors of the 200-plus courts in and around Paris. As the best available, many were sold to English players.