Rare walking stick sold for £46,000 in Bridgnorth

A rare whalebone and walrus tusk walking cane carved by a 19th Century whaler this afternoon sold in Bridgnorth for a staggering £46,000.

The price was more than 10 times the original estimate.

The 35ins-high cane, thought to have been carved between 1810 and 1825 by a whaler operating out of New Bedford, Massachusetts, was bought by a dealer on behalf of an anonymous overseas buyer at the auction at Perry and Philips in Bridgnorth this afternoon.

The owner of the delicate antique, an elderly Wolverhampton woman, had been hoping its sale would bring in £500.

She had kept the cane, known as a scrimshaw, wrapped in polythene on top of a wardrobe, not knowing just how much it was worth.

The auctioneers, who had estimated the piece would sell for £2,000 to £4,000, described the cane as the finest antique to pass through their hands in 30 years and said they were ‘thrilled’ by the sale.

John Ridgway, of Perry and Phillips, said the cane was ‘an amazing item’ and attracted interest from across the world.

“I think everyone in the auction room was quite emotional after the cane had sold.

The bidding was intense and some telephone bidders who had dropped out stayed on the phone to see what it eventually sold for,” he added.