Walking Stick

Date1838

Artist/Maker Zachariah S. Robinson (1806-1873)

MediumCarved mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) with brass ferrule

DimensionsOL. 32"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1990.708.5

DescriptionA walking stick, the top carved in the shape of a human head. Shallow relief carving, including lettering, appears only on the upper portion, the longer, lower section being left plain. The stick is capped at the bottom with a brass ferrule.
Label TextAt least a dozen walking sticks are believed to have been crafted by Zachariah Robinson, many intended as gifts for friends, family members and politicians. This one bears a relief-carved inscription naming the maker as well as the year and place of fabrication. In addition, several letters of the alphabet are illustrated by images of animals whose names begin with those letters. Animals (both wild and domesticated) must have been favorite motifs; one of the carver's descendants said another Robinson cane was decorated with a "menagerie." The descendant also claimed that that all her ancestor's canes were made from mountain laurel. (The wood of this one has been microscopically identified as such.)

The carver was born near New Market in Shenandoah County, Virginia, the son of Thomas and Sarah Robinson. By June 24, 1830, when he married Hannah Stover, he had settled in the area of present-day Roanoke. In 1837, he built a 12-room brick tavern on a major east-west stage line in what was then a sparsely populated area. Later, however, the Virginia-Tennessee rail line began to divert traffic away from the tavern, and Robinson's business gradually dwindled. In 1846, he sold the place and accepted an appointment as postmaster. Still later, some years before the Civil War, he moved his family to the area of Ashley, Illinois, where he died.
InscribedIn shallow relief carving near the top of the cane, in block letters with serifs and in one continuous line that spirals around the stick is: "This staff made in the Year of the Lord 1838 By Zachariah S Robinson in Roanoke County Va".
Also at the top of the cane, above and below the preceding inscription, are a few letters of the alphabet placed adjacent to carved images of animals whose names begin with those letters, e.g., "C" appears beneath a cat in one place and beneath a cock in another; "S" appears beside both a sheep and a squirrel; "M" appears beneath a monkey; "E" appears beneath an eagle; "F" appears beneath a fish; "D" appears beneath a dog; and "H" appears beneath a hog.

ProvenanceOwnership prior to CWF's vendor is undocumented.