The National Badminton Museum has had a purple feathered battledore shuttlecock circa 1870 donated to the National Shuttlecock Collection.
The shuttlecock has a brown velvet base with a wool trim and 26 purple feathers. It has a diameter of 100 mm (4 “) x 125 mm (5 “) in length and a base diameter of 45 mm (1 ¾”); the shuttlecock is about twice the size of a modern shuttle, and it weighs 14 grams, which is over twice the weight of a modern shuttle. We believe the shuttlecock was made in England.
The game of ‘battledore and shuttlecock’ dates back to the 18th and 19th centuries. The roots of the game have been reported to go back to ancient times in China and other Asian countries. The game was played with rackets, battledores and even wooden paddles. ‘Battledore and shuttlecock ‘was played without a net and without the boundary lines of a court. If a single player played, they would hit the shuttlecock in the air counting the number of times they could do this without it falling on the floor. If two or more players played they would hit the shuttlecock back and forth to each other, it was usually a cooperative rather than a competitive game, the players purposely hit the shuttlecock towards rather than away from each other, their goal was to have as long a rally as possible keeping the shuttlecock up in the air and counting the number of consecutive successful strokes in each rally. The present-day game of badminton developed from this much older game of ‘battledore and shuttlecock’. Badminton was being played in at least 1863 and maybe a few years before that.
For more information on the game of Battledore and Shuttlecock – Click Here.
This shuttlecock and many more can be seen at the National Badminton Museum, National Badminton Centre, Bradwell Road, Loughton Lodge, MILTON KEYNES MK8 9LA
The National Badminton Museum would like to thank Jim Warner, http://www.jimstennis.com for the Battledore Shuttlecock.
Photos: – Geoff Hinder Click on images to enlarge