A collection of 21 walking sticks and gadget canes more than tripled its low guide price of £950 to sell for a £3,270 at Hansons Auctioneers’ Oxford saleroom in Banbury.
The top seller was a group of four canes, which variously incorporated a sword, a measuring stick for horses and a vicious spiked pommel intended to fend off assailants. Expected to sell for £150-£300, the quartet hammered at £1,500.
Other gadgets on offer included sticks combining a watch, compass, telescope, a stick for cleaning gun barrels and even a harmonica.
The single lot top seller was an ebonised walking stick with a 9ct gold collar which concealed a gold propelling pencil. Dated 1909, and expected to make £400-£600, it sold for £620.
Another group of four canes, including a brass-handled Malacca stick, dated 1913, whichtransforms into a telescope, one with a watch on the pommel and another where the globe opens to reveal a sundial, sold for £420 more than doubling its low estimate of £200.
Hansons Auctioneers’, Jasper Marsh, said: “In Victorian London streets were booming with all sorts of delights from gaming houses to pleasure gardens. It gave rise to a new style of walking – the promenades and, with it, the rise of the cane.”
With the poor state of roads and pavements a strong support was essential, most with a long ferrule for support or, in more lawless times, as a weapon of self-defence.
Jasper continued: “Towards the end of the 19th century, the gadget cane with additional functions became popular — a bit like the Swiss Army knife of today.”
An unusual metamorphic walking stick which could transform itself into a telescope tripled its low estimate of £80 to hammer at £240.
While two silver-topped walking sticks, with their handles moulded as a semi-naked women, strode past their pre-sale guide price of £40-£60 to sell for £130.
A group of six walking sticks, three topped with an axe head, harmonica and device for cleaning gun barrels sold for £200, beating its estimate of £30-£50.
In the 1800s sharp-dressed gentlemen would wear a specific cane in the morning, a day or city cane for business, before changing canes for the evening. Theatre canes, made of precious wood, with a thin and straightforward ivory knob, became popular.
Jasper continued: “The sale also included examples of the crutch or crook, which could have been hung from the arm when lighting a cigarette. The same style became popular after WWI when war veterans required support when walking.”
Auction Results
Auction: Banbury September Fine Art & Antiques Auction
Auction date: 24th September 2025 | 9:30am
Location: Hansons Oxfordshire Saleroom
Auction contact: [email protected]
Catalogue/bidding: www.hansonslive.co.uk | www.the-saleroom.com
