Snake Skin Cane

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Masterpiece Cane Auction

By Kimball Sterling

May 24, 2025

Set Reminder 2025-05-24 11:00:00 2025-05-24 11:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Masterpiece Cane Auction https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/kimball-sterling/masterpiece-cane-auction-19479
A European Masterpiece Cane Auction Kimball Sterling kimballsterling@earthlink.net

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• Lot Description
  Ca. 1880 Classic hardwood cane coated with a snake skin. Under close inspection, the ornately patterned and interlocking speckled scales are small, black, and golden spotted on two-thirds of the surface, implying the upper side of the serpent’s body, and big, rectangular, and lighter in color on the belly side. A flawless and smooth wrapping around the cane without a visible seam lets us reasonably believe that the snake was skinned perfectly to maintain its tube form before slung on the wood core. Even though we believe the skin naturally dried on the wooden core, we cannot rule out the possibility of tanned leather or chemical conservation handling prior to its arrival on the cane. In any case, it survived the test of time well and with excellent coloration, except for a small shrinkage along the joining ridge to the knob. The metal knob, in typical pommel form, is completely hammered in a repeating pattern that aligns with the scales. Its surface, as well as the ferrule's, matured with a black and crusty patina that complemented the cane's general character and added more dramatic resonance. We tentatively identified the snake's skin as Lampropeltis holbrooki, a species of nonvenomous kingsnake in the Colubridae family. The species is endemic to the United States. The genus name, Lampropeltis, is from Greek root words and means “shiny shield.” It refers to the glossy, smooth scales on the upper side of the body. The species name, holbrooki, honors John Edwards Holbrook (1796–1871), an American zoologist and medical doctor who published the first complete illustrated reference to North American amphibians and reptiles, a multivolume work (ca. 1840) that described many U.S. species for the first time. Though everyone's taste is different, this thrilling intersection between cane and natural history will surely always inspire awe and, usually, curiosity. H. 1 ¼” x ¼”, O.L. 34 ¾” $200-$300 Snakes have always captured the imaginations of humans. In myth, religion, and story, snakes perform the roles of seducer, sneak, guardian, healer, killer, and transformer. On a very practical level, snakes help humans by consuming many rodents that are injurious to our interests. Think of them as natural, nontoxic, free pest control.
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