This particular stick, along with a couple of others, came from a gentleman who told me they had belonged to his grandfather, who had worked and travelled extensively in the Far East. The stick itself is rather unusual in that the (dead straight) ebony shaft tapers from a massive 1.25" at the top down to a slender 1/2" at the tip. Even without the metal knob, this extreme taper makes the stick decidedly top-heavy. Now add a large lump of solid brass (or possibly bronze?) weighing about 8oz / 250g to the thick end, and you have more of a club than a walking stick. I guess it was made this way to provide some protection to the user travelling in foreign parts, but the weight must have been difficult to handle in a tight corner. It works fine as a walking stick, though. As long as you don't drop it on your foot!

The knob itself is plated with chrome or nickel. It's had a few knocks around the widest part, probably just where it's been dropped - the weight is quite enough to leave a dent, but it is very solid metal, so no real damage done. The shaft is in excellent condition, just a few tiny nicks here and there, and no visible flaws in the wood. The top is engraved with a pentagram, though I don't know if this was purely decorative or whether it had some mystical significance to the owner. The socket for the shaft is engraved with a geometric design and the initials SNC in ornate Edwardian script. These initials are significant...

When I got the stick home, I checked it over to assess what renovation work might be required. I found just a hint of movement between the knob and shaft, so I would have to remove the knob and re-fix it. I wrestled it off the shaft to find it had been held on just by a coat of lacquer on the shaft. And a blob of some white stuff. Chewing gum? Some sort of mastic? Nope - I pulled it off the top of the shaft where it was firmly stuck, and realised it was a tightly-folded wad of paper. I unfolded it and read the following:

"My Will S. N. Copner 01/07/34
To the most devoted and loving wife that ever lived Minnie Copner I leave everything
S. N. Copner 01/07/34"

Fortunately, this could not have constituted a valid will (there are no witnesses, for a start, and there is no reason to suppose it was a "battlefield" will), so the course of history won't have been changed by Grandad Copner hiding the thing in such a damn stupid place.

Time for some pictures, I think...

The original ferrule was missing, and the tip of the stick was just too small to take the smallest available replacement, so I made a new one from a spent bullet casing with a stainless steel rod through the middle to take the wear.