For Immediate Release
      
Lifelong Collection of
Walking Sticks and
Canes Sold at Auction
Contact: Jim Calabrese
American Antiques Auction
1-(877) 247-6767
info@AmericanOL.com
www.AmericanOL.com

    Edison, N.J. - It wasn't a Stradivarius, but bidders didn't seem to mind as the price climbed to $6,100 for a vintage walking stick with a violin nestled inside the hand-crafted mahogany shaft.

                            It was one of more than 100 selected canes and walking sticks sold at American Antique Auction's most recent sale, a select grouping from the lifelong collection of Louis Macchi.

    Fashioned from exotic woods like mahogany, rosewood, ebony and teak, the craftsmen who created these works of art devoted most of their creativity to the handles.

    Carved from whalebone, deer antler, or elephant tusks, and fashioned from precious metals and the wood itself, these anonymous artisans had an exacting eye for detail.

    Many of the pieces were still tagged with the original paperwork and receipts from auction houses in the U.S. and abroad.

    Auctioneer Jim Calabrese of American Antiques Auction conducted the sale in Edison, NJ.

Other highlights:

  • a Narwhal tooth cane - from a near-extinct species of whale - with embossed silver top sold for $4,700;
  • Carved ivory handle with exquisite detail of a tiger’s head, sold for $2,200;
  • Presentation cane from Gen. A. Jackson to William Calhoun, sold for $1,800;
  • Carved ivory handle depicting the heads of two thoroughbred horses racing neck and neck, sold for $1,700;
  • A walking stick reputed to have been presented by Abraham Lincoln with documentation, sold for $900;
  • A walking stick with a single-shot breech-loaded pistol secreted in its handle, with hand-tooled silver and barrel encased in rosewood shaft, sold for $880;
  • Carved ivory handle with the two faces of comedy and tragedy, sold for $650;
  • Oak and copper cane signed "Made from Remains of Nelson Flagship," sold for $600;
  • Ivory cane with intricate carving showing two lovers courting, sold for $700;
  • Signed Tiffany cane with marble, sterling, gold, tortoise shell and ivory, sold for $750;
    The successful auction drew bidders from Europe to Hollywood and closed out a banner year for American Antiques Auction.

    It also set the stage for this year’s schedule of specialty auctions and monthly estate treasures sales, augmented with continuous on-line auctions.

    The increasing popularity of the Internet enables American Antiques Auction to offer museum-quality items to an even broader audience on its rapidly expanding website.

    In fact, many of the bidders in last month’s auction walked away with their canes and walking sticks through cyberspace!

    This exposure to a broader audience nationwide and overseas assures both bidders and consignors of fair market value for what ever it is they are buying or selling, whether it be Tiffany sterling, a Roseville vase, Hepplewhite chairs, Art Deco lighting or a 19th-century crazy quilt.

    More and more bidders are expected to log on to American Antiques Auction’s website to take advantage of this expanded buying opportunity, with two outstanding auctions scheduled February 3 and March 6.

    The February sale will feature the Rosenberg estate and hundreds of Royal Doulton character mugs, as well as porcelain, glassware and jewelry.

    The March sale will feature a one-owner collection of vintage Lionel trains and accessories.

    Visit the American Antiques Auction website at www.AmericanOL.com and take time to browse through our online auctions; you never know what you will find.

    Consult our calendar of scheduled monthly auctions, and take the time to sign up for our mailing list.

    Call toll free 1-(877) 247-6767 for further information.