History
Barges of all kinds were commonly used on the Nile in ancient Egypt. When the Pharaoh Akhenaten revolutionized Egyptian religion, he renamed his pleasure barge "Splendor of Aten", after his dominant god. A miniature of a royal barge was found amongst the items in the tomb of Tutankhamun. The most famous Egyptian barge, the Thalamegos, is that used by Cleopatra VII of Ptolemaic Egypt when she arrived in luxurious state to seduce Mark Antony and also allegedly when she sailed up the Nile with Julius Caesar.
11th-century Chinese writer Ouyang Xiu mentions a pleasure barge in his poetry with oars the color of orchids (or magnolias, depending on the translation). An ivory model of a Qing Dynasty imperial pleasure barge exists at the Vancouver Maritime Museum. In 1357, King Boromtrailokanat of Ayudhaya, in what would later become Thailand, decreed a yearly barge race. His barge would compete against the barge of his consort. If the consort's barge won, then the year would bring abundance. If the King's barge won then it would signify hardship. The consort's barge was usually allowed to win. A later Thai king included a royal barge bearing Buddhist relics in his war party against Burma. By the 17th century, royal Thai barge processions included more than 100 barges, and oarsmen wore matching red garments and gold jewelry.
Wealthy states which relied on water trade sometimes developed barges specifically linked to the ruling class. A painting by Jan van de Cappelle from 1650 depicts the state barge of the Netherlands being saluted by gun blasts from battle ships.
The doges of Venice also traveled by a state barge, the Bucentaur, especially to perform the yearly held Marriage of the Sea.
The Grand Canal de Versailles at Versailles served as a setting for elaborate play barges in the 17th and 18th centuries. The gilded goddess figurehead from Marie Antoinette's barge survives, and Napoleon commissioned a ceremonial barge for his official visit to the port of Brest in 1810. The latter is at the French Musée national de la Marine.
Until the middle of the 19th century, pleasure barges were common sights on the River Thames in London and beyond. These included shallops, luxury transport for the upper class, rowed by up to eight liveried servants, and sometimes decorated with gilded carvings and ornate draperies. Handel's famous Water Music was composed to be played with its audiences listening from pleasure barges. The City livery companies competed as to the luxury of their state barges.
Up the river at Oxford, where a stretch of the Thames is known as the Isis, many college Boat Clubs permanently moored large two-decker barges in their college colors to use as clubhouses. These proved too expensive to maintain in the 20th century, and they were gradually sold off. Some college barges are still to be seen on the river, used as reception facilities by riverfront hotels, such as The Swan at Streatley, Berkshire, which has the former Wadham College barge.
