Gold Dress Cane

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Masterpiece Cane Auction 2026

By Kimball Sterling

Jan 3, 2026

Set Reminder 2026-01-03 11:00:00 2026-01-03 11:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Masterpiece Cane Auction 2026 https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/kimball-sterling/masterpiece-cane-auction-2026-21759
Masterpiece Cane auction is all from a Europeon collection. We offer items from this private collection about once a year, Kimball Sterling kimballsterling@earthlink.net

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• Lot Description

  Ca. 1790

  Traditional and well-proportioned yellow gold knob of a mid-size, tapering, and domed design, densely hand chased with scrolls, blooms, and foliates. 

  Furthermore, and faithful to the spirit of its day, it is personalized with the engraved initials of its first owner on the top. 

  The knob's stacked design and chasing suggest it was a custom, one-of-a-kind piece. At the same time, its profile and the style of the Gothic initials point to an American, Anglo-Saxon provenance from the late 18th century. 

  A magnifying glass shows the detail to great advantage, revealing a tiny, obscured hallmark struck on the bottom edge of the collar. It is tentatively identified as the compulsory French Owl hallmark, indicating import into France from a non-treaty country meeting the minimum standard of 750 precious metal titles. 

  Fortunately, it comes with its initial dark and smooth aged malacca shaft, two matched yet individually chased yellow gold eyelets, and a silver ferrule. 

  This cane shows signs of long and careful use, enjoys the merits of total integrity, and boasts that feel of age that never goes amiss. Indeed, it is praised for a superb faded surface, coupled with a vivid yellow knob, which creates a striking contrast with the dark, uniformly aged patina on the shaft. 

  It commemorates Anglo-Saxon abilities and aesthetics from a time when canes were a rare luxury item reserved for a select few and provides evidence of their opulent lifestyle. It also shows that early works always appeal to collectors and that canes were collectibles even a century ago.

  H. 1 ¼” x 1 ¼”, O.L. 36 ¼”

  $900 -$1,500

  For historians, hallmarks provide an additional source of information to accurately date a jewelry object and determine who made it. The most commonly encountered hallmark on jewelry is undoubtedly the “purity” mark, which indicates the total amount of gold or silver used to manufacture a coveted jewel. 

  Although the study of hallmarks serves as an excellent research avocation to many involved in the antique trade, a trained professional can and should place a desired object in the proper time frame without the presence of such marks. 

  From medieval times to the mid-19th century, hallmarks were used only for consumer protection. This changed around 1840 when falsified hallmarks, named “pseudo marks,” appeared on the market to dodge taxes. 

  In those days, the English government raised taxes on imported gold and silver work, exempting antique items. Paying taxes has never been a priority for entrepreneurs. Some gold and silversmiths in Germany and the Netherlands began stamping marks on their jewelry and silverwork, mimicking antique hallmarks. A second factor was the renewed interest in antique artifacts of the applied arts, kindled by the First World Exhibition in London (1851). The smiths of the day, mostly trained in the old tradition, were more than happy to provide the market with freshly crafted “antiques”, and the mimicked hallmarks added to the authenticity of those desired objects.

  The tradition of jewelry manufacturing in the USA began only around 1840, and one can find many pre-20th-century pieces stamped with European marks. This was for the sole reason that many settlers had strong ties to – and traded with – the “old countries.” It was not until 1906 that regulations concerning “hallmarking” were issued in the USA. As there is no supervised system of hallmarking in the USA, one cannot technically refer to it as “hallmarking” in the strict sense; instead, they should be referred to as “manufacturers’ marks.”

  France is credited with having the most complex system of hallmarks known to the world. 

  French marks are based on symbolism, using abstracted forms of animals, people, insects, and birds. Together, these symbols indicate the metal's fineness (purity), the place of manufacture, and associated imports and exports.

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