Price Guide to Antiques & Collectables
These items have been sold, and the description, image and price ($US) are for reference purposes only.

Novelty walking sticks - firearms, sword, flask etc.

Canes

From around 1550 to 1930, canes were a dressing accessory without which a lady or gentleman, properly dressed, would never leave the house. However their use went out of fashion after this, leaving the market to collectors.

For a collector, the main interest lies in the handle, which could be made of wood, bamboo, ebony, ivory, tusk, animal horn, or bone. Sometimes they were made out of porcelain, Bakelite, gold, silver, or glass; enameled or cloisonnéd; or sprinkled with precious gemstones. The height of good taste was a gold handle with minmal decoration, as silver handles were despised by more... the wealthier classes. However silver handled canes have survived in large numbers, and exhibit a wide variety of decorative treatment, from the comparatively plain, armorial or regimental style to the more flamboyant excesses of Art Nouveau.

Carved handles can be found depicting grotesque animal or human forms, and are highly prized nowadays. Also keenly sought are multi-purpose canes, with a concealed spirit flask, tobacco pipe or even a tiny fire-arm for personal safety. less...

A walking stick was an integral part of every well dressed man's wardrobe in the nineteenth century, and his collection of walking-sticks were probably kept just inside the hall in a stand, sharing space with umbrellas.

Walking-sticks and canes derive from the cudgels and staves carried for defence, evolving into dress accessories topped with silver or ivory, with a ferrule at the point to cut down wear. Many had elaborately carved heads. Sometimes these unscrewed to reveal space for a snuff box or other article. About 200 ancillary accessories are known to have been incorporated into walking more... sticks, the best known being the sword. Sword sticks date back to the sixteenth century, and often the sword just slides out with the stick acting as a sheath. Other sword and knife designs had a spring mechanism and would release on the press of a button or lever.

Other sticks pull apart, revealing a dagger with a handle for the left hand, and a stick with a blade for the right hand. Two steel blades sliding into the shaft from each end probably represent duelling weapons. The poacher's gun was a simple weapon in the shape of a walking stick; more sophisticated was a six-barrelled revolver, exposed by pressure on a trigger-spring that expelled part of the cane, and which had a dagger in the centre of the barrels.

Most extravagant was the machine-gun in a rectangular cane. "The kit", as it was 'known, was a pocket violin; this was developed into a violin fitted into a cane with a two-inch (5cm) diameter. Other canes contained music-boxes, harmonicas, flutes, piccolos, pipes (including opium pipes), vesta boxes, cigarette holders, candles, battery torches (dating from as early as 1882), contraceptives, poison, and a whole tribe of canes known as working companions (scalpels for doctors, small spades for botanists, safety lamps for miners). Among the most curious is the voyeur's cane with a mirror above the ferrule enabling the user to look up women's skirts. less...

21 items found.
An antique musical walking stick with silver top, ebony flute…
19th Century Musical Walking Stick with Silver Top and Ebony Shaft

An antique musical walking stick with silver top, ebony flute shaft and brass ferrule, 19th century, 37.80 in. high

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A rare gilt-metal mounted horse measuring stick and cane,…
Gilt-mounted Horse Measuring Stick and Cane

A rare gilt-metal mounted horse measuring stick and cane, inscribed Sir Mortimer Sinclair KBE Milton Hill, Berks., 37.40 in., long

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Vintage Irish Shillelagh dark wood walking stick 96 cm length.
Vintage Irish Shillelagh Walking Stick - 96cm Length

Vintage Irish Shillelagh dark wood walking stick 37.80 in. length.

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A rare Day's patent under hammer percussion walking stick gun…
Day's Patent Walking Stick Gun by Hubbard, c.1830

A rare Day's patent under hammer percussion walking stick gun by Hubbard, c.1830, with brass escutcheon on the grip with coat of arms and engraved 'Day's Patent, Hubbard 126 Newgate'. Hubbard worked at Newgate Street, London between 1827 and 1831. The wood

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A copper mounted thornwood walking stick with a snuff…
Copper Thornwood Walking Stick with Snuff and Flask

A copper mounted thornwood walking stick with a snuff compartment and spirit flask segment, together with another cane and walking stick, the largest 35.04 in. long

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Cane c.1890 Ashford, Maker to the Queen walking stick cum horse…
Antique Horse Measuring Cane and Riding Crops

Cane c.1890 Ashford, Maker to the Queen walking stick cum horse measuring rule with metal handle engraved 'E.J. Barton', the handle extends to reveal a ruler for measuring the height of horses, with scales in hands, inches & metric; also two riding crops.

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A walking stick gun, steel with black paint finish, screw on…
Antique Walking Stick Gun with Horn Handle

A walking stick gun, steel with black paint finish, screw on horn handle, brass muzzle tip and screw out brass tube. Operating parts missing. Overall length 37.80 in.

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A part 19th century Day's Patent walking stick gun, the…
19th Century Walking Stick Gun

A part 19th century Day's Patent walking stick gun, the mahogany handle with round steel section, signed enclosed action with under-hammer and folding trigger. Stock and barrel absent. Length 7.87 in.

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Rare Swaine & Adeney London walking cane with included horse…
Swaine & Adeney London Walking Cane with Horse Gauge

Rare Swaine & Adeney London walking cane with included horse measurement gauge, measured in hands on internal extendable wooden rod, with an included brass measuring balance, all included within a cane walking stick, length 37.01 in.

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An antique walking stick with secret compartments holding a pen,…
Secret Compartment Walking Stick with Writing Utensils

An antique walking stick with secret compartments holding a pen, ink bottle and pencil, 19th century, 35.83 in. high

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An old cast iron walking stick gun, with recessed trigger,…
Antique Walking Stick Gun with Percussion Cap Firing Mechanism

An old cast iron walking stick gun, with recessed trigger, muzzle loading and a type of percussion cap firing mechanism, push button trigger, the tip end with unscrewing reveal hollow barrel, bead sight., length 33.86 in. No firearms licence required.

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Shibiyama and ivory pipe walking stick with ivory topped handle…
Ivory Pipe Walking Stick with Mop Beetles Decoration

Shibiyama and ivory pipe walking stick with ivory topped handle decorated with Mop beetles that unscrews to reveal pipe stem that fits to handle to form pipe, on a rosewood stick section, length 34.25 in.

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An Australian Walking stick with an ivory handle, and a gold…
Melbourne Rifle Club's 1900 Walking Stick with Ivory Handle

An Australian Walking stick with an ivory handle, and a gold band inscribed, Presented from the Melbourne rifle club 1900

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A spirit flask walking stick, 19th century, with a hidden glass…
19th Century Spirit Flask Walking Stick with Hidden Glass Tube

A spirit flask walking stick, 19th century, with a hidden glass tube and miniature glass under the cap, 36.22 in.

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A walking stick with concealed opium pipe attachment, whale…
Opium Walking Stick with Whale Tooth and Bone

A walking stick with concealed opium pipe attachment, whale tooth, bone and timber, 19th century, 35.83 in. Provenance: Private collection Hobart,

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Antique walking stick with pull out brass horse measuring stick,…
Antique Walking Stick with Brass Horse Measuring Stick

Antique walking stick with pull out brass horse measuring stick, approx 36.22 in. long

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Antique walking stick with copper end that converts into a…
Copper-tipped walking stick doubles as smoking pipe

Antique walking stick with copper end that converts into a smoking pipe with ceramic inner bowl, approx 34.25 in. long

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Poacher's under-hammer percussion gun concealed in a walking…
Poacher's Walking Stick Gun, 1830s

Poacher's under-hammer percussion gun concealed in a walking stick, English circa 1830s. 33.46 in.

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Walking Stick Cum Horse Measuring Rule, cane walking stick with…
Horse Measuring Walking Stick & Riding Crops

Walking Stick Cum Horse Measuring Rule, cane walking stick with metal handle engraved 'E.J.Barton', the handle pulls out to reveal a ruler for measuring the height of horses, with scales in hands, inches & metric, made by 'Ashford, Maker to the Queen'. Als

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Antique gilt brass circa 1840 walking stick, English, measuring…
1840 English Gilt Brass Walking Stick

Antique gilt brass circa 1840 walking stick, English, measuring 34.65 in. long

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Antique pipe handle walking stick, the handle unscrews to…
Pipe Handle Walking Stick: Antique and Functional

Antique pipe handle walking stick, the handle unscrews to become a pipe, 35.04 in. long

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