Walking stick (Cane)

Museum Object Number 2015.0026

Object Name

Walking stick (Cane)

Category

Metals

Credit Line/Donor

Gift of Brian Cullity

Place of Origin

Boston, Massachusetts, United States, North America

Origin Notes

Gold probably made and engraved in Boston; cane possibly made or prepared in Indonesia or Northern Europe.

Date

1863

Mark or Signature or Inscription or Label

1. Inscription; Handle, upper surface; “Presented to / LYMAN WHITE / by the / Workmen under his charge / while at / Chickering & Sons. / 1863”, engraved

Subjects

Music

Materials

Cane; Gold; Ebony

Techniques

Engraved

Dimensions (inches)

33.375 (L) , 1.25 (Diam)

Dimensions (centimeters)

84.772 (L) , 3.175 (Diam)

Measurement Notes

Measurements are overall. Height of ebony tip is 5/8 inches.

Object Description

Web - 08/01/2015

A sign of esteem and gentility, this gold tipped walking stick was presented to a gifted and industrious decorative painter, Lyman White (1800-1880) to mark his relationships with co-workers at a very successful piano-forte manufactory in Boston. White is known for stencil and freehand decoration of fashionable furniture, and Winterthur’s collection includes a chair (2003.0043) exemplary of his work. Also at Winterthur in the library is the Lyman White collection of artist’s materials (Col. 721). This contains stencils and ornaments that preserve a partial record of his career with Boston manufacturers, Chickering & Sons among them. In 2007 Winterthur graduate fellow Rebecca Garcia wrote a thesis exploring White’s career, “Pigments and Pianos: Painter and Varnisher Lyman White.” Novel musical industrialists, Chickering & Sons were founded in Boston and operated under Chickering family oversight from 1823-1893 making pianos and other stringed instruments. The business continued under other names into the twentieth century and business papers are archived at the National Museum of American History, Collection 264.