FINE WHALEBONE CANE WITH WHALE IVORY HANDLE CARVED AS A CLENCHED FIST Handle and faceted collar carved from a single piece of whale...

FINE WHALEBONE CANE WITH WHALE IVORY HANDLE CARVED AS A CLENCHED FIST Mid-19th Century

Handle and faceted collar carved from a single piece of whale ivory. Detailed with a scalloped shirtsleeve cuff with red and black highlights simulating cuff links. Shaft carved from a single piece of whalebone with a deeply carved sawtooth pattern near cuff and sections of fluting and stop fluting separated by bands of shell and mother-of-pearl inlay. One band of inlay in a harlequin pattern bisected by a ring of metal pique inlay. Other band of inlay in a dot pattern. Metal ferrule. Length 34.5".

Provenance:

The Barbara Johnson Whaling Collection, Sotheby's New York, December 16-17, 1983, Lot #297.

Important American Folk Art from the Collection of Ralph O. Esmerian, Sotheby's New York, January 25, 2014, Lot #724.

Exhibited: Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island, New York: "The Art of the Whaleman", 1983.

American Folk Art Museum: "Folk Art Revealed", November 16, 2004-August 23, 2009.

South Street Seaport Museum, New York: "Compass: Folk Art in Four Directions", June 20-October 7, 2012.

Illustrated in American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum (Harry Abrams Inc., 2001), p. 330 .

This cane was made by the same hand as the preceding lot and the two have been exhibited and sold together through the years.

Condition: Handle with crack extending from collar approx. 1". Some chipping/cracks to inlay. Small dot of discoloration on shaft.

This item will not be shipped internationally without a CITES permit. Obtaining CITES and any other necessary permits is the obligation of the buyer.

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