This is a bulletin board for news relating to walking canes, and arms & armour.
It’s purpose is to inform our client collectors of current activities in these two collecting worlds. If you have any relevant information you may think is suitable to put up, please e-mail it to us at info@antiquecanes.com

The Fireflies crossing the Alps for Leuka.....

My dear school friend Andy Carroll's passion is riding a bicycle ... now in its 10th year "The Fireflies Ride" is a group of riders who undertake an enormous challenge of riding their bicycles - 8 gruelling days of cycling from Geneva to Cannes, 1000km across the French Alps - all in aid of Leuka - their mantra being "for those who suffer we ride.." Founded in 1982 Leuka is a registered charity dedicated to raising funds to support research into the causes and treatment of leukaemia at London's Hammersmith Hospital. At the forefront of clinical and scientific advances for the past thirty years, the specialist unit at the Hammersmith already has an international reputation for excellence and innovation. This is a charity close to our hearts as some may know, Michael German is currently a cancer sufferer and is treated at this amazing center.. Read more about the Fireflies at www.thefirefliesride.com and please watch the amazing short clip by film maker Nick Mason Please consider supporting Andy and Leuka if you feel it is possible - visit this link to make any donation: www.justgiving.com/TenaciousFox I will post further details of his progress and the ride as and when.. Thank you Dominic

CANEMANIA 2010 ~ Milan ~ HURRY HURRY HURRY!!!

ACTION FOR CANE COLLECTORS * Very exciting news of this years most important Cane collector's event... CANEMANIA 2010 CANEMANIA 2010 MILANO will run from 26th -30th May 2010 ~ The 7th International Cane Collectors Conference view all details at www.canemania2010.com IT’S TIME TO MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR CANEMANIA 2010 MILAN, MAY 26-30. PLEASE REGISTER and RESERVE your space now! CANEMANIA 2010 Milan toasts the second Conference in Europe. The organisers have secured some spectacular historical / museum sites for meetings and social events, and the program promises to be outstanding - featuring a strong group of expert speakers with impressive backgrounds, exciting and varied areas of expertise, and relationships to the cane collecting community. Plans for the CANEMANIA 2010 Cane Auction, optional tours and other conference activities are also underway. PLEASE NOTE: The meeting venue can accommodate about 100 people comfortably and will be available on a first come, first served basis, so it is important to register very soon to reserve your space. Visit the website www.canemania2010.com for information and details regarding Registration Fees, Sponsorship, Agenda, Venues, Events, Travel and Accommodations, which are now posted. Please contact us the organisers directly by e-mail at mail@canemania2010.com.

very amusing 1958 British Pathe film clip of a cane collection

a keen collector found this amusing clip and kindly passed it onto us - it is great fun - filmed in Abbey House Museum, Kirkstall, Yorkshire. Learn about Mr. Maynard Mitchell, a well known rabologist (collector of walking sticks) as he has to catalogue a newly acquired collection of walking sticks. The background music, the note taking scretary and the voice over commentary make this a classic! Just view this link! : https://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=172

look who is wearing a cane!

On a recent trip to London to pick up a BAFTA for "The Wrestler", a charming gentleman kindly made a pit stop to visiit us. Thinking that to complete his attire certainly a fine walking cane was required.... and so with careful thought and consideration a most elegant option was duly selected!

our new "fan display cane stand"

We are delighted to announce our new cane display stand to compliment the exisitng circular stand that we already have made & supply in various woods. We have been looking for some time for an additional stand to add to our range for collectors' & at last we have this design & found somebody clever enough to make it to a top standard. This is a large two tiered traditional "fan display" model which holds up to 24 canes individually ~ each socket & ring is lined in soft green baise fabric for protection. It has been faithfully copied from an original Victorian example with all the dimensions faithfully reproduced & can be made to order in most woods ~ it is manufactured today by wood craftsmen to the highest quality ~ we currently have examples available in both oak & walnut wood which look stunning! The overall height of the stand is 68.5cms / 27 inches & the width at the furthest point is 82cms / 32.5inches ~ for more details please see our section under the title of cane stands...

fantastic new book for cane collectors ~ "Vertical Art : The Enduring Beauty of Antique Canes and Walking Canes"

"Vertical Art: The Enduring Beauty of Antique Canes and Walking Canes" (Hudson Hills Press) ~ this amazing book is a demonstration of the art of walking canes in their finest glory ~ this beautiful book shows 377 canes and is 400 pages with slipcase ~ it was launched at Canemania 2008 in Paris and is truly a unique selection of some of the finest canes ~ photographed in colour with tremendous style by Italian photographer Umberto Barone, it has been produced to the very highest standard ~ this book sets a standard for the collection of canes and is a must for all serious collectors ~ not just of canes but items of beauty! In the caption below entitled "Mondo Cane" this excellent book is reviewed by Eve M. Kahn in the New York Times, date December 26, 2008 The book is available to purchase directly from www.verticalartcanebook.com, and for further images of whats inside visit the site which is almost as splendid as the book!

... colourful windows & passer-byes!

for some time now kind customers have requested seeing images of our changing window ~ those who have visited us know it is actually very small but the challange is always on to fit in as much as possible, making it hopefully an eye catching puzzle for passer byes ~ however we frequently have new visitors to the shop who say somthing like .. "I have passed by for over 10 years and never made it in" ~ to which we always think we must be doing somthing terribly wrong! ~ here are some views of current & windows past!

Bastoni Materia Arte Potere - the accompanying volume!

Such was the success of Renzo Traballesi's exhibition held in Sienna in September 2007 that the exhibition was asked to be presented in Milan - to an even larger audiance. By the time this had come about Renzo had been approached by various collectors that they also had canes that could warrant being included in this second exhibition. This additional catalogue was written to acompany the full exhibition version and is an interesting and worthy text for any collector. Now available at £18.00 plus p&p

"Bastoni Materia Arte Potere" - the exhibition catalogue

Finishing in September 2007 was the highly successful cane exhibition at the Santa Maria Della Scala museum in Siena, Italy, organised by cane collector Renzo Traballesi. For those of you who missed it or were unable to attend we have for sale copies of the exhibition catalogue - this is a must for any cane collector as the quality and production of the images is truly excellent. It runs to three hundred pages plus and is in full colour, and the pages are approx. within the A4 format. Published by Priuli & Verlucca and priced at £30.00 plus p&p

here at last! - "Stick to Canes" Part 1 & 2 out now on DVD

In the early 1990's we produced two video tapes illustrating over two hundred and thirty fine quality antique canes, with the view of sharing knowledge in the subject by showing some of the highest quality items to be found by the collector of today. “Sticks to Canes - Part One” we cover the earlier period from 1550 to 1840 and includes a group of the early ivory pique canes, similar period early silver ones, ornate gold examples, a group with early porcelain handles, a few historical items including a cane belonging to Lord Byron and another of Napoleon III. On show to be viewed also are some early system canes including a magnificent Admiral’s telescope cane by Elliot, London, with its shaving set, lamp, writing implements, drawing tools and wax candle; a group of watches, some early flintlock gun canes made by Klett and Jones, and a few of the earliest sword canes produced. There is a selection of early musical items including violins, clarinets, flutes etc. Among other rarities are three nutcracker canes and a Martin microscope, complete with original it’s slides. “Sticks to Canes - Part Two” we cover the main period for the collector of today, from approximately the 1840’s and ending with the era including the world war of 1914. In this section can be found a group of fine Marine whalebones including architectural examples, a group of fine ivories, cased gold mounted tortoiseshells, medical items including hearing aids, a group of amusing wood and ivory articulated animal heads and many system canes including watches, sword and gun canes, a large selection of mainly silver cigarette, pipe, lighter and snuff canes. There is also a group of Faberge canes and handles from his St Petersburg and Moscow workshops, Folk Art items and many more unusual pieces. By revising this project into a DVD we bow to the march of technological progress and hope that the collector of today will gain some further insight and that future collectors will be inspired to start collections in this fascinating subject. The duration is for Part 1 1:37 and for Part 2 1:44, and the DVD is available in both European and American formats, professionally filmed and recorded - priced at £20.00 each film