Lew Waldman's Ethnographic Arms & Armour Collection Archive


1039 - Irish Shillelagh Wooden Walking Stick (Cane) Formed from Trunk and Branch

Mixed in with Lew's collection of antique African clubs was this walking stick that is of similar construction using the natural branching growth pattern. The ovoid head shows light colored wood at its core with a ring of bark covering that continues at an angle into a bark covered shaft with a metal tip. The wood has a clear glossy finish. Overall length is 35¼ inches (89.5 cm) with a weight of 13¾ ounces (390 grams).

I have been advised "The above item looks very much to me and probably is an Irish Blackthorn Shillelagh/walking stick; the Shillelagh being outlawed by the British back in the 1920’s. To get over that restriction, they made them longer into walking sticks…for your further information the Blackthorn tree fruit is used for the making of Sloe Gin in the autumn."




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