Collectors' sticks
Collectors' sticks
The above photo from the 1930s illustrates what can happen when a
dedicated stick-collector decides to take a stroll along the pier. I do hope
his taste in walking sticks
is rather better than his choice of footwear might suggest. |
Myself, I'm not really a serious collector, but somehow I just can't stop myself poking around in the murkier corners of antique shops, junk shops, sale rooms and second-hand stalls at country fairs - and a blurred photo of something on eBay that looks as if it might be a bargain sets my bidding finger twitching.
In fact I don't really have room to house a proper collection in the manner to which it deserves to become accustomed - I have more than enough trouble finding somewhere to keep my own creations. However, I guess I'm the sort of person that takes in birds with broken wings, cats that have lost eight of their nine lives in road traffic accidents, mistreated dogs and differently-enabled hedgehogs. Except in my case it's walking sticks. You can always tell a neglected stick. It will be lurking in a dark corner somewhere, alone and forgotten; Its once highly-polished surface dull and dirty, and splashed with white paint (or occasionally pale green). This is due to the invisibility of a stick that sits there in the hallway day after day, just minding its own business. Even when the time comes to give the place a fresh lick of paint...
So - I bring home yet another stick. In the fullness of time I will clean it up, remove the paint splashes, mend the odd split, re-polish and oil desiccated old horn and bone, replace a missing ferrule, look up hallmarks, try (often vainly) to identify the maker. And when it's ready to be returned to the wild, I will take some photos and stick it on this page in the hope that somebody, somewhere, will realise it's just what they have always wanted. Of course some sticks are, sadly, beyond help. But even these have their uses to a stickmaker. A stick with half a broken handle may still have a nice, usable malacca, ebony, mahogany or rosewood shank; one with a broken shank may have a good horn handle or silver knob. A downright badly-made stick might still yield a useful piece of antler or horn to make something completely different. And so it goes.
Anyway, if you are looking for an interesting old stick, either to help you crawl back from the pub or to take its place in your collection; or if you just want to have a good nose around and look at some of the diverse, unusual (and sometimes downright unlikely) sticks made around the world at different times, just step right in.
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Click on any image for further details and pictures. | Price (in pounds sterling) | Click below | |
C061 | A malacca walking stick/cane with detachable plastic duck's head concealing a corkscrew. Probably dates from the late 1950s or early 60s. | Now just £20 GBP to clear |  |
C060 | A carved walking stick/cane made by a Vietnamese prisoner of US forces in 1966. | SOLD |  |
C059 | A Victorian horn walking stick/cane with eagle-head handle. | SOLD |  |
C058 | Still on the subject of bamboo, here is an outstanding example of a Japanese carved bamboo root-knob stick, depicting a sorcerer conjuring up a dragon. Probably... | SOLD |  |
C057 | A very unusual bent bamboo rootknob stick with gold-plated band. Square bamboo - whatever next??!! | SOLD |  |
C056 | A simple bentwood walking stick/cane in hickory with an engraved white metal collar dated 1925. | SOLD |  |
C055 | A rattan cane knob stick, possibly a drover's cane, covered throughout in plaited leather. | SOLD |  |
C054 | A carved folk-art knob stick commemorating the Belgian town of Nieuport and the battles fought along the River Yser during World War I in 1914 and 1917 . | SOLD |  |
C053 (a & b) | Two Mexican carved folk-art sticks. Intriguing symbols. | SOLD |  |
C052 | A substantial old rattan root-knob walking stick/cane. | SOLD |  |
C051 | A very solid ebony cane with a heavy plated brass knob - and a hidden message dated 1934. | SOLD |  |
C050 | An old Charlie Chaplin type whangee cane. | SOLD |  |
C049 | A mahogany walking stick with silver band dated 1921. | SOLD |  |
C048 | A smart bamboo root-knob walking stick by Brigg of London, with 18k gold band hallmarked 1957. | SOLD |  |
C047 | An old drover's cane, used for driving/herding cattle. Flexible rattan knobstick with leather grip. | SOLD |  |
C046 | A sturdy little art deco walking stick/cane in partridge cane and silver by Brigg of London, dated 1901. | SOLD |  |
C045 | A simple little knobstick. Malacca shaft and carved ebony knob in the form of a Turk's head knot. | SOLD |  |
C044 | A good example of a chestnut "Congo Pearl" stick. Hallmarked silver capping and collar (London 1901). | SOLD |  |
C043 | I have now acquired another of these "trench art" walking sticks/canes made out of brass bullet cases. This is to all intents identical to #C010 and is also marked "1942". No point in creating a new page for this, so the picture (right) is linked straight to C010. | SOLD |  |
C042 | An Anglo-Indian carved ebony walking cane/stick with inlaid ivory decoration. The handle is in the form of an elephant's head. In truly outstanding condition. | SOLD |  |
C041 | A finely carved Japanese bamboo root-knob stick in excellent condition. | SOLD |  |
C040 | An African folk-art staff with carved snake. | SOLD |  |
C039 | A farmer's "spud" stick, used for casual weeding. Bent chestnut with a steel blade. | SOLD |  |
C038 | A very sturdy cane or bamboo knobstick with hardwood top. | SOLD |  |
C037 | A lovely old knobbly chestnut cudgel stick | SOLD |  |
C036 | A nice old whangee cane... but there's something a bit odd about it... | SOLD |  |
C035 | A very smart little Victorian/Edwardian teacher's cane dated 1901. Black horn handle, hallmarked silver collar, and cane shaft. | SOLD |  |
C034 | A simple bent wood walking stick with knobbly carved nose to handle. Oak, I think. Maybe. | SOLD |  |
C033 | A very tidy little ebonised cane topped with a small composition knob, and dated 1867. | SOLD |  |
C032 | A simple little knobstick cane in porcupine wood, with cow horn tip. | SOLD |  |
C031 | A very interesting relic of the First World War. A carved mahogany stick with brass trim, and bearing the inscriptions "Audruicq" and "14.C.B.J.19". | SOLD |  |
C030 | A most unusual steel cane/walking stick with art nouveau capping. | SOLD |  |
C029 | A knobstick with a carved bone head showing acupuncture points, on a turned hardwood shank. Not an antique, but high quality and excellent condition. | SOLD |  |
C028 | A simple, slim one-piece stick in an attractive dark wood, possibly Macassar ebony. Probably early 20th C. | SOLD |  |
C027 | A superb Victorian walking stick in excellent condition. Carved ebony shank with a curly ram's horn handle. | SOLD |  |
C026 | A Japanese carved bamboo root-knob cane. | SOLD |  |
C025 | An intriguing antique Malacca cane with a silver-plated top in the form of a gloved hand holding a pistol. There may be an interesting history behind this cane. | SOLD |  |
C024 | A t-handle walking stick in horn, rosewood and hallmarked silver by Brigg of London. | SOLD |  |
C023 | A miner's stick, turned and shaped from ash wood and topped with a brass bust of a coal miner. | SOLD |  |
C022 | An elegant art deco rosewood cane. | SOLD |  |
C021 | A rather strange-looking thick cudgel/walking stick of knobbly chestnut. | SOLD |  |
C020 | A sturdy Japanese bamboo root-knob stick, carved with images of animals. | SOLD |  |
C018 | A smart horn-handled ebonised hardwood walking stick (by James Howell?) with engraved silver collar (1925) and rather unusual features. | SOLD |  |
C017 | An extremely elegant little lady's fashion cane in ebony and silver (probably). | SOLD |  |
C016 | An old Malacca cane with horn knob | SOLD |  |
C015 | A very impressive old ebony walking cane with chased silver knob, hallmarked 1925. | SOLD |  |
C014 | An old cane stick with silver capping, hallmarked 1916. | SOLD |  |
C013 | An antique cane stick with ivory knob. | SOLD |  |
C012 | A superb old bamboo rootknob cane. | SOLD |  |
C011 | A horn-handled walking stick with gold-plated collar and oak shank. | SOLD |  |
C010 | A most unusual walking stick fashioned out of spent bullet cases. | SOLD | |
C005 | An unusual leather walking stick. Made by threading leather washers onto a steel rod. | SOLD |  |
C009 | A whangee riding crop or cane with antler handle and plain silver collar, largely unrestored. The price includes final restoration work to the purchaser's requirements. | SOLD |  |
C008 | An ebonised maple cane topped with a plated brass knob. | SOLD |  |
C007 | A slim bent blackthorn rootknob cane. | SOLD |  |
C006 | An intriguing rustic oak walking stick or cudgel. | SOLD |  |
C004 | A beautifully simple and well-proportioned turned mahogany knobstick. | SOLD |  |
C003 | An unusually thick and sturdy whangee cane walking stick, tipped with cow horn. | SOLD |  |
C002 | A knobbly cane, believed to be "Congo pearl" and made in 1919. Birmingham (UK) hallmarked silver capping and mount. | SOLD |
|
C001 | A decorated turned stick in the shape of a horse's fetlock and labelled Thamyaino. | SOLD |
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This page last updated Monday, 28 April 2008
