CIRCA 1828

Details

AN AMERICAN GOLD CANE HANDLE BELONGING TO ANDREW JACKSON
CIRCA 1828
Cylindrical, modeled in the form of a fasces, the thirteen rods each engraved with the name of one of the thirteen original colonies, the straps engraved with the twenty wards and their representatives, one strap engraved Cut at the Hermitage, bordered at one end with a band of laurels, the other with a band of flowers and berries, further bordered at each end with acanthus and a band of thirteen stars, the top engraved with an American eagle, opening as a snuff box, the base with a later silver-gilt cover opening to another snuff box, originally the socket for the wood cane, each end later applied with monogram LC in old mine cut diamonds, in a later fitted leather case, signed on one star BROWN Eng.
4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm.) long
5 oz. 6 dwt. (165 gr.) gross weight

Provenance

For President Andrew Jackson (1767 - 1845).
Likely Governor Lewis Cass (1782 - 1866).
With D. L. Lavender Antiques, London.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, New York, 31 January-2 February 1985, lot 96.

Exhibited

New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, long term loan, 2009-2022.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Julia Jones Associate Specialist

jjones@christies.com +212 974 4474

Lot Essay

The engraving Cut at The Hermitage found on the present lot refers to Andrew Jackson's plantation near Nashville, Tennessee, known as the Hermitage, implying that the wooden cane on which this handle would have originally been mounted was likely cut from a tree on the property. The later initials LC may be for Lewis Cass (1782 - 1866), who served as territorial governor of Michigan from 1813 to 1831, then as Secretary of War under President Jackson from 1831 to 1836. He visited Jackson at The Hermitage towards the end of Jackson's life, and there is a bust of him preserved at the site.

More from Important Americana

View All