Vermeil Stanhope Erotic Dress Cane

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Cane Auction- World Class

By Kimball Sterling

Oct 10, 2020

Set Reminder 2020-10-10 11:00:00 2020-10-10 11:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Cane Auction- World Class https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/kimball-sterling/cane-auction--world-class-5622
This is a European single owner collection with many fine canes from different categories, All are top-notch canes in fine condition. Kimball Sterling kimballsterling@earthlink.net

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• Lot Description
  Ca. 1890-Classic-shaped knob fashioned of woven and gilt silver wire on a well figured snake wood shaft with eyelets and a horn ferrule. So far, so good, however, what makes this cane singular is that it is fitted with an erotic Stanhope in a peephole concealed in the fake eyelets on the top of the shaft. The micro lens shows a daring nude scene with two girls and a man and endows it with the crossover appeal of associating with more than one collecting field to augment its desirability. The expert opinions are unanimous on the French origin and suggest that the cane was probably commissioned by an eccentric Gentleman from the Belle Époque for his own pleasure. The tasteful and inconspicuous look allowed him to wear his cane at all occasions, and, in the appropriate time, make sensation and become the topic of the gathering. H. 1 ½” x 1 ¼”, O.L. 36 ½” The Stanhope, named after English scientist Lord Stanhope (1753-1816), was an optical novelty that was concealed in nineteenth century jewelry, ornaments and occasionally canes. It consisted of a slim glass rod, less than one-eighth of an inch in diameter, which had one end rounded to form a lens and a tiny round collodion positive photograph cemented to the other end. A small hole was drilled in the jewelry, the Stanhope inserted, and a magnified view of the photograph could then be seen by looking through the lens. Actually, the Stanhope is the beginning of micro-photography or the microfilm of today. In 1867 a French patent was obtained by Antoine Rochard for objects fitted with Stanhope’s. For a cane with Stanhope’s see C. Dike, Cane Curiosa, Chapter 10, Photography, page 114, 10/24 and Francis H. Monek’s book, Canes Through The Ages, page 262. Piratinera Guianensis or snake wood belongs to the family of Moraceae and originates in tropical South AmeriCa It is a truly exotic species and probably one of the most difficult woods to find. Typically, it is a very small tree, and only shows the wonderful reddish brown heartwood with speckles of black appearing as hieroglyphics or snakeskin markings in a small quantity of the wood, and then rarely evenly spread across the entire face of the board. Its markings which resemble those of a snakeskin, give this small, relatively rare timber its name. Snake wood is dense, extremely heavy and hard, brittle and splits easily. It becomes very smooth when finished and has natural polish.
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