Coral & Tortoiseshell Italian Opera Walking stick, Naples ca. 1870

A marvelous Coral & Tortoiseshell Italian Opera Walking stick, Naples ca. 1870

Hunting was a noble pastime. Killing the quarry was not an end in itself; a day out hunting was a relaxed way to meet and network. Estates were specially laid out as hunting grounds with strict rules about the management of a game, designed to protect the privileges of the nobility. Wild boar and deer were the favourite quarries, their flesh being particularly welcome on banqueting tables. Hunting scenes appear on all sorts of decorative objects.

The history of sculpting objects in coral goes back to ancient times, this object corresponds to the coral of the Mediterranean Sea, specifically the coastal region among Sicily and Naples and is 8 cm high x 5 cm to side x 3 cm wide. This beautiful and rare item represents a hunting scene at the culminating moment where three dogs chase a wild boar, the gestures of the animals have great expression, as from de hands of an artist with high skills.

Embellished with a gold ring, it is on top of a splendid shaft covered in tortoiseshell veneer. This astonishing piece of art, distinguished by its use of materials from the ocean, is without cracks or chips in perfect conditions and finished with a bimetal ferrule, O.L. 87 cm.

It is the type of canes made for the show, it must be carried high, at the height of the gentleman's chest.

For similar Coral examples see The Vertical Art Cane Book page 52.

For more info about Italian Coral see the link  https://lauramorelli.com/italian-coral-and-cameos-a-history/

Coral and Tortoiseshell canes were among the most expensive of their time, were very difficult to make, only a few examples survive. Paris and Naples were specialized in tortoiseshell articles and had the best artists in that field. Today, the knowledge of handling tortoiseshell is lost.