Right: this fine selection of late Victorian and Edwardian ivory-topped canes are, from left to right: a parrot with glass eyes and white metal collar which made £550; a harlequin’s head with a silver mount and presentation inscription dated 1908 (£450); a stylised bulldog’s head with engraved silver collar marked for 1912 (£160); an owl with foliate-engraved silver collar, Birmingham 1896 (£180); a head of a man in a tricorn hat (£180); hand clutching an egg with a serpent wrapped around the wrist (£320); clenched fist (£320); a skull mounted on a branch with an entwined serpent (£180).
Below right: the best selling cane from the collection, carved with nine hunting dogs’ heads, which sold well below estimate at £950.
Walking the dog – and other canes
Nineteenth century walking sticks, canes, umbrellas and riding crops were one of John Stewart Parry’s favourite collecting areas – he had more than 180 of them in myriad different forms from dogs’ heads to seashells. Offered on the fifth and final day of Bruton Knowles’ sale in May– the best of the series in terms of atmosphere, said auctioneer Simon Chorley – they all sold, albeit at auction rather than retail levels.
