eBay Very early edition rare Tom Gauthier Cue

[thelongbomber]

Hi members. A Tom Gauthier cue collector has approached me to sell his Tom Gauthier cue. The cue has been in the family's possession for several years and they have decided to part with this gem as they don't collect Tom's cues any more. Over the years, I had heard about Tom's attempts at making such a cue but never got to see one in real life until now. The cue is currently with me and I have photographed and spec'd out the cue. I have also asked other Gauthier collectors about the cue and they have confirmed it's authenticity. The seller has asked to remain anonymous and are trusting me to handle the transaction on their behalf.

Based on my research of this cue in the past few weeks as well as what I was told by the owner...This is a very rare cue that Tom designed strictly for pool. It shows probably his only attempt at working with traditional pool cue veneer points - 4 layers (colors) on 4 points. He also used Mother of Pearl inlays that were commercially available at that time and placed them at 20 locations on the cue. There are also 2 brass rings near the butt cap. The handle section is a two-tone dark brown striped Ebony. The butt is bent (by aproximately 4mm) but roles decently on the table. The cue plays and feels heavy at 22.5 ozs. and 58.5” long. It has Tom's signature traditional phenolic joint in excellent condition. This cue comes with one shaft with a 12.5mm tip size. This cue shows Tom's early attempts at cuemaking at the time which makes it a real collectors item. Any Tom Gauthier collector or fan of his wonderful cues would consider the cue a worthy purchase. Email mayur-at-fullmotiongroup-dot-com for more details or PM privately with your offer. The seller is asking for $1800 CDN. Offers will be considered.

If you have any concerns about authenticity, please see my other sales. I have sold other Tom Gauthier cues here before. Contact the previous buyer if you like.

The pictures really don't do this cue justice but they are the best I can do for now.

http://www.thesnookerforum.com/board...php?groupid=56
http://www.thesnookerforum.com/board...light=gauthier
http://www.thesnookerforum.com/board...light=gauthier

[poolqjunkie]

Just wondering if anyone knows for sure if the blank was made by Tom from scratch or was it one that he converted?

In the early days it was quite common for a cue maker to work on a blank made by someone else (e.g. a Titlist blank or a Burton Spain blank). Balabushka and Szamboti were known to do it.

The colours of the veneers on this cue do not look like a common titlist but I heard they do come in odd colour combo sometimes. Besides, since Tom lived in Canada, not the US, it is possible he worked on some early cues by Brunswick that were not common in the US. Or perhaps it was a blank made by some other company? The pearl inlays were done in a style which was indeed very common in the old days.

I would love to find out more about this very unique cue. It is indeed a very interesting cue.

Can you show a picture of the whole butt, please?

Thank you very much.

[thelongbomber]

Thanks for replying PQJ. I'm really not sure if it was a blank as I was never around to verify first hand. I have it on good authority from at least a few people that knew Tom's work and spent a lot of time with him that he worked on this cue. One person who knew Tom quite well saw something similar to this cue hanging in his shop at one time.

I will see about taking a better picture of the butt. Are you looking for a complete picture from top view? Let me know what more you wanted to see and I can go and get that photo done.

Thanks.

[poolqjunkie]

Hi,
Thank you for the quick reply. If you could show a picture of the cue from the joint to the butt that would be great if you dont mind.
Just trying to get a good idea of what the cue look like as a whole--if it is not too much trouble for you. Thank you.
I was not questioning if the cue was a real Tom Gauthier cue. I was just interesting in learning if the blank was also made by Tom or perhaps he found a piece of blank, or an old one piece cue, or another cue butt and then converted it into this cue. There is nothing wrong with that in my opinion if that was the case, but I was just trying to see if you or anyone know what really happened, that is all.
It is a very rare cue, thank you for showing the pictures here. Never seen anything like this before.

[thelongbomber]

No problem. I will see about taking a full picture of the cue and maybe even do up a video also so you can see the cue in complete form. You are in Vancouver right? Why don't you give me a call and arrange to see the cue. Send me a PM if you want my contact info.

[poolqjunkie]

Hi,

The reason why I asked you the questions was because I cannot help but wonder why was a butt section attached to the blank (I am talking about the last section which is seperated by the brass rings). I was just wondering if it was possible that the blank was perhaps too short so another piece from another cue was cut and jointed to the blank?

To perform the inlays by himself Tom would need to have some kind of a pantograph. Since I have never seen any cues made by Tom with similar inlays I assume he probably found some blanks with such inlays already done or else he most likely had the inlays made by someone else for him. If he had invested in inlaying equipment to perform inlay work I just find it rather odd that he would only used them once. But this is just my guess, nothing solid really to back up my guess.

To execute points with veners is a very different technique (and more time consuiming and arguably more difficult) than making 4 sharp points or butterfly prongs. It is not an easy technique especially if you want the points to be all even and the veneers all clean without clue lines showing up and such. This is basically why I wonder perhaps this cue was made from a blank with the points and veneers already made. My reasoning is if Tom was able to perform this kind of veneer works it seems rather odd that he would not do them any more on any of his later cues.

The above are just my guess. I could be totally wrong--and it will not be the first time nor the last--hence why I am very curious to find out what really happened.

Anyway, thank you for posting pictures of such an interesting and rare cue. I have learned and seen so much since joining this forum.

Good luck with your sales.

[thelongbomber]

Here is an additional picture showing the complete butt as requested.