Hardstone and Enamel Exotic Bird Head Cane

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Timed

Passed Cane Auction

By Kimball Sterling

Feb 22, 2023 - Mar 12, 2023

Set Reminder 2023-02-22 00:00:00 2023-03-12 00:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Passed Cane Auction https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/kimball-sterling/passed-cane-auction-12307

Selection of fine canes

Kimball Sterling kimballsterling@earthlink.net

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• Lot Description

  -Ca. 1900 -Large rose quartz knob fashioned of an intense pink and translucent, gem grade stone and carved to depict an exotic bird’s head with a well-defined feather coat and mighty beak. The gifted creating artist took his art to a great advantage in keeping the feather coat of the bird’s head frosted, polished its beak and eyelids to lend it additional sparkle and added a pleasing dash of color with two inset, green glass eyes. No doubt, a visually powerful piece of lapidary arts, the knob is furthermore complimented by a magnificent engine turned and translucent pink enameled wide collar with underglaze, fine and vibrant 24-karat yellow gold filigree swags and slender gold framing bands, a rarely encountered naturally spotted and well-dressed flowered malacca shaft and a horn ferrule. Indeed, this cane is one of those objects of desire, which embodies the romance and splendor of a long gone period of luxury and cultural discernment and realizes every selective cane amateur and collector of fine objets d’art dreams. It was brought to safety near the end of the First World War and treasured and venerated ever since by three generations of a wealthy French art lover’s family. -Notable is that, after a long absence of over a century, hard stone knobs came into fashion around 1880 with Fabergé and the emerging Russian taste in Europe. They were very difficult to make, pricey and offered exclusively by the best jewelers in the main capitals of the world like London, Paris and Vienna. -H. 2 ¼” x 2”, O.L. 39 ½” -$4,000-$5,000 -Enamel is a smooth, glassy, protective or decorative medium that can be fused on to a metal, glass or ceramic surface by firing and generally pairs well with engine turning. Enamel colors are made out of powdered glass and pigmented metallic oxides such as gold, copper and manganese suspended in an oily medium. During firing, the oily medium burns away and the others fuse together. -Engine turning, also often called guilloché like in the French language, is done with a machine called a rose engine or decoration lathe, which cuts grooves in geometric patterns. It was used to adorn the cases of pocket watches and other small items and also to engrave printing plates for stock and bond certificates. Because the pattern is engraved, the reflection of light is enhanced, and its brilliance can be seen as the piece is moved from side to side. The best known artist, but not the first using this technique, was Fabergé, who, when showing pieces in Paris in 1900, brought a new interest to this practical method. Engine turning is very delicate and requires sophisticated equipment and high skill; it was developed in the 18th century and died out after WWI.

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