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

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. Deemed worthy of investigation, in 2007 a Winterthur student, Rebecca Garcia, wrote her thesis about 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.