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AEDWhite Metal Naughty Leg 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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| Price | Bid Increment |
|---|---|
| $0 | $10 |
| $100 | $25 |
| $500 | $50 |
| $1,000 | $100 |
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
Circa 1870
An L-shaped, white-metal handle crowns this high-grade ebony shaft, which displays seldom encountered and beautiful, warm, brownish hues and terminates in a horn ferrule. Finely chased details reveal a shapely leg adorned with frilled undergarments, a coquettish garter, and dainty boots. An image that flirts with the mildly erotic charm so beloved of the French CanCan imagination that caused such a furor at the time.
In its own day, such a cane was considered deliciously daring, a playful wink at propriety wrapped in polished respectability. Today it stands as a charming relic of that prim yet mischievous age: a witty “conversation cane” sure to raise both eyebrows and smiles.
The original owner, mindful of the rough-and-tumble character of the venues where such entertainments flourished, showed admirable foresight in commissioning the handle in a heavy and solid execution. Beneath its humorous veneer lies a practical secret: the substantial weight and sharp contours of the handle turn this stylish accessory into a discreet but persuasive weapon, known as a knobkerrie, or more colloquially, a life preserver or bludgeon.
The cane remained in excellent condition, displaying only the soft traces of age that lend authenticity and charm.
And, as one later owner was fond of remarking, it never failed to draw attention, particularly from ladies, who, intrigued by its story, invariably wished to take it in hand themselves.
For comparable canes, see C. Dike, Cane Curiosa, Chapter 28 “Bludgeons,” p. 279 (28/1), and Chapter 29 “Sword Canes,” p. 297, and Francis Monek, Canes Through the Ages, pp. 217 & 226.
$400-$500
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