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THBRed Coral & Gold Male Diety 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
Live Auction in Progress ... Currently on Lot Two ways to bid:
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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. 1850
Single piece Mediterranean coral grown at an angle and carved in the Roman taste with a lion head and the bearded face of a male deity, possibly Hercules or Bacchus. Wide yellow gold collar with twist wire borders studded with individually set round cabochons and scattered filigree embellishments, bone washer with red dot inlay, an ebony shaft, and a bone ferrule.
The coral displays a dense structure and a uniform, meaty-red color from the desirable material of the deepest Mediterranean waters, and its excessively precise carving detail hints at a Trappani or Torre Del Greco origin.
The creator, who could design and build this handle in accordance with Southern Italian aesthetic principles, created enduring beauty. Better than the best, this cane is one of those anticipated and precious Grand Tour trophies.
Despite its reduced size, or better due to its reduced size, it surely puts quality in a whole new category, and, endorsed by an antique note and surface wear to the coral, it survived miraculously intact.
H. 3 ¼” x 1 ¾”, O.L. 38 ½”
$3000-$4,000
Coral is an organic gemstone like pearl and amber. It is composed of the external skeletal remains of the coral polyp, a tiny tube-shaped sea creature.
The premier coral on the market is Mediterranean red coral, harvested in the deep waters of the Mediterranean and long associated with Italian craftsmanship.
Often called the tree of the sea, coral was also revered in ancient times as a magical stone united within its three reigns: animal, vegetal, and mineral.
Naturalists thought it was a sea plant that petrified when removed from the water, but its marine animal nature was proven only around 1700. Corals were the most sought-after organic materials, following ivory, bone, and amber.
Although the manufacture of tortoiseshell items began in Naples, Italy, and later moved to Paris, France, the art of craftsmanship with Mediterranean red coral remained the stronghold of Trapani and Torre Del Greco in Italy, where coral reefs provided abundant raw material.
Coral has an ancient history. Legend identifies it as the blood of the Medusa, and Christianity uses it as a symbol of Christ’s blood.
If you had been a nobleman in the 18th and 19th centuries, you would have completed your education with a period of European travel.
This so-called Grand Tour could last from a few months to many years. Thus, only the wealthy could participate because they had the time and means to travel.
By undertaking the Tour, young men learned about the politics, culture, and art of neighboring lands.
The primary destination of the Grand Tour was Italy, and since the 18th and 19th centuries, its ancient Roman monuments have been revered for their art and culture.
The British, in particular, wanted to see ancient monuments like the Colosseum in Rome and natural wonders like the volcanic eruptions of Mount Vesuvius near Naples up close and personal, so they traveled to Italy.
While nobles came to hone their tastes by viewing ancient Roman art, art students from all parts of Europe also came to Italy to learn from ancient models.
The art produced in Italy during the age of the Grand Tour shows close observation of the natural landscape and ancient artifacts, celebrates modern Italian customs, and commemorates the visits of wealthy patrons.
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