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Founded in the 19th century, the British company Jefferies & Co. was a pioneer in racquet manufacturing, trusted by Walter Clopton Wingfield, the founder of lawn tennis. Wingfield himself chose Jefferies to produce the first racquets for his groundbreaking game, Sphairistikè. A milestone in the sport's history. Jefferies & Co, 1884 Over the decades, Jefferies & Co became synonymous with craftsmanship and quality. Later known as Jeffries & Malings of Woolwich, the company merg

The racquet known as The Last Witness  originates from London and dates to the end of the 1870s. It is made of solid wood with an oval striking face, typical of English racquets produced during the final decades of the nineteenth century. The manufacturer remains unidentified, though the form and balance correspond to models used in early lawn tennis. The Last Witness, 1878 The piece was part of a London household destroyed during the Blitz, the sustained bombing campaign car

Parlour tennis bats were flat paddles with a thin wooden core and a taut vellum surface stretched over the face. Handles were short, straight, and smoothly finished to fit comfortably in one hand. The striking surface was round or slightly oval, providing a clear and even contact with the ball. The vellum covering gave a dry and distinct sound when hit and was valued for its firm rebound. Pair of Palour Tennis Bats, 1875 Parlour tennis, also called table tennis or whiff-whaff

Vellum-covered battledores were produced in Europe during the first half of the nineteenth century. Racquets consisted of a wooden frame covered with a stretched sheet of vellum. The material was prepared from calf or goat skin and fixed tightly around the rim with small nails or tacks. The surface created a dry and distinct sound when the shuttlecock made contact. The wood was often ash or beech. Handles were short, straight, and sometimes wrapped with thin leather for bette

The game of battledore and shuttlecock was played with small racquets made from wooden frames that were either strung with natural gut, covered with vellum, or covered with leather. The head of these racquets was typically round or oval, the handle short. Strung battledores allowed for more precise and consistent play than solid or vellum-covered versions. 3 strung Battledores By the sixteenth century, battledore and shuttlecock had become a familiar pastime in Europe, partic

The antique real tennis racquet from the end of the eighteenth century features the classic lopsided head with a pronounced downward angle. The frame is made of solid hardwood, a material commonly used for racquet production throughout the eighteenth century. The stringing follows the trebling technique, where each cross string is looped completely around the main string. This method produced alternating surfaces on the string bed, one smoother and one rougher, which allowed

The Racquet of the Majesty, dated 1583, belongs to the Golden age of Real Tennis, the sport of European kings. The game had evolved from the French Jeu de Paume and became a symbol of royal prestige. Courts were built in palaces such as Hampton Court under King Henry VIII, where the game was played indoors with refined skill and ceremony. Across France, by the end of the sixteenth century, hundreds of such courts stood in use, serving nobles and courtiers alike. In Normandy,