Slave Traders Ebony Walking Stick

Gregory128 · 27th May 2020, 01:00 PM

Hi everyone,
Given everyone's success at cracking the money stick mystery, I was wondering if the members of this forum could provide fruitful evidence as to the provenance of the following item. This family mystery has alluded us for over 50 years since its was first purchased from a shop by St Luke's Church, Liverpool in the 1960's.

We believe we have a very unusual ebony slave captain's walking stick from the late 18th/early 19th century. As shown, the head is made from ebony and has been carved to resemble a man of African origin. The heads left hand side resembles a living man with beaded eyes while the right hand side displays a skull. The shaft has been painted black but we are not quite sure what sort of wood it is. We believe it belonged to a ships captain due to the following reasons;

1. The previous owner said he had a diary belonging to the fellow who owned the stick. Father returned a number of times to the same shop to no avail. Apparently shop keeper had misplaced the book and lost it.

2. The tip of the stick displays no evidence suggesting it had a metal cap. Instead we believe its never been capped so it could be used on wooden decking.

3. Finally, Liverpool was the hub of the slave trade in the second half of the 18th century. It gives a plausible explanation on how the stick ended up in the UK.

We were wondering if any of the members on this forum have come across a similar item? In addition, are we able to narrow down the provenance and provide definitive proof towards this items identity?

We look forward to hearing your suggestions,
Gregory.

27th May 2020, 01:00 PM	#1
Gregory128 Member Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 5	Slave Traders Ebony Walking Stick Hi everyone, Given everyone's success at cracking the money stick mystery, I was wondering if the members of this forum could provide fruitful evidence as to the provenance of the following item. This family mystery has alluded us for over 50 years since its was first purchased from a shop by St Luke's Church, Liverpool in the 1960's. We believe we have a very unusual ebony slave captain's walking stick from the late 18th/early 19th century. As shown, the head is made from ebony and has been carved to resemble a man of African origin. The heads left hand side resembles a living man with beaded eyes while the right hand side displays a skull. The shaft has been painted black but we are not quite sure what sort of wood it is. We believe it belonged to a ships captain due to the following reasons; 1. The previous owner said he had a diary belonging to the fellow who owned the stick. Father returned a number of times to the same shop to no avail. Apparently shop keeper had misplaced the book and lost it. 2. The tip of the stick displays no evidence suggesting it had a metal cap. Instead we believe its never been capped so it could be used on wooden decking. 3. Finally, Liverpool was the hub of the slave trade in the second half of the 18th century. It gives a plausible explanation on how the stick ended up in the UK. We were wondering if any of the members on this forum have come across a similar item? In addition, are we able to narrow down the provenance and provide definitive proof towards this items identity? We look forward to hearing your suggestions, Gregory.