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AEDJeweled Rock Crystal Etched Peacock Flume Cane
About Seller
125 West Market Street
Johnson City, TN 37604
United States
Family-owned and family-run Johnson City Tennessee auction business for 25 years. Selling antiques and collectables for 38 years. Kimball M. Sterling, Inc. was founded and is owned by Kimball and Victoria Sterling, time and again, they have laid solid claim to world-wide attention and renown with an...Read more
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| $100 | $25 |
| $500 | $50 |
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About Auction
LiveJan 3, 2026
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
View Full Catalog (89)
- Lot Description
Ca. 1900
A substantial rock crystal handle crafted from a flawless, pure stone, designed in classic, yet unusually large, straight, and linear tapered shape, and delicately engraved with an intricate motif of peacock tail feathers. The carving, both refined and lyrical, unfolds across the entire surface in a continuous panel of flowing plumes that culminate in engraved eyespots, each one set with a ruby cabochon of notable quality. The interplay of light within the crystal and the fire of the rubies results in a strikingly luminous effect. You have to see it in nature to truly appreciate its full beauty, as the transparency of the stone and its sparkle significantly limit photography.
The knob features a one-in-a-million, so far encountered in only a few examples, flowered Makassar Ebony shaft with a finely chased silver collar and a horn ferrule. The eyespots spreading across the entire surface of the shaft perfectly complement the ones adorning the feathers.
This rare and exceptional cane embodies the star power and quiet magic of traditional Objects of Virtue. It exemplifies the principle that less is more, a hallmark of the “Neat” style favored by the Viennese lapidary artist. In its refined simplicity lies a quiet paradox: the simple, yet almost unattainable, belies the unimaginable complexity and finesse of its craftsmanship.
If the saying “When it comes to hard stone canes, color and clarity are everything” is correct, by that measure, this jewel-like example is a masterpiece of the genre.
It has the notable distinction of being market-fresh and of provenance from Austrian nobility.
H. 3 ¼” x 1 ¼”, O.L. 39”
$3,500-$4,500
Reverend Thomas Dick, in his 1836 treatise On the Mental Illumination and Moral Improvement of Mankind, called the peacock “the most beautiful bird in the world,” a sentiment echoed through the centuries. Yet beyond its dazzling plumage, the peacock has long embodied a range of symbolic meanings: from pride and vanity to resurrection, immortality, and dualities of good and evil.
In Renaissance art, the peacock often represents the sin of Pride among the Seven Deadly Sins, an association reinforced in the 19th century.
Victorian writers frequently derided the bird’s harsh cry, quoting the Italian proverb: “The peacock has the voice of a devil, but the plumage of an angel.” By the early 20th century, its symbolism softened; peacocks became ornamental fixtures at great country houses, described by St. John as “the royal section of the feathered race.”
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