Title
L-handle Slash-mark Cane
DateCirca 1840
Mediumwhale ivory, wood, non-ferrous metal
Dimensions3 5/8 × 7/8 × 35 1/4 in. (9.2 × 2.2 × 89.5 cm)
Object number1919.31.19
Institutional Credit LineCourtesy of the New Bedford Whaling Museum
DescriptionTapered black wooden shaft; matching beaded silver metal ferrules at each end, with ferrous metal tip; plain whale ivory handle, set at a right angle to the shaft, with cross-hatch slash marks on the underside. Distinctive cross-hatch slash marks and distinctive heavy graining (similar to elephant ivory, but sans Schrager lines) identify two canes (/walking sticks) as by the same hand: 1919.31.19 and 2001.100.952 (S-698). The analogous slash marks on the walrus ivory handles of two other canes identify these two as by the same hand: 1937.24.20 and 00.22.54. That the handles are all amost identicaly shaped, have similar ferrules, and have very similar, analogous slash marks or cross-hatch slash marks in the identical locations in all four cases, suggests that all four may be by the same hand. An inscription on 2001.100.952 identifies the date as circa the 1840s.
On View
Not on view
Circa 1840
circa 1844
Circa 1820-1825
1745-1925
19th Century
9/5/1949
c. 1930
