Folk Art Carved “Boot” Walking Cane - Sold
American, Mid-19th Century
Pine. Length: 34 ^1/4 inches
Handle: 5 ^3/4 inches

This Folk Art walking cane is in the form of a boot, with red paint decoration.
The inverted boot or shoe made an ideal form for a cane handle, and numerous examples survive in varying degrees of complexity and design. Restrained in its decoration, and relying solely on simplicity of form with bands of red paint as the only ornament, this cane nonetheless makes a bold statement.

Made at a time of widespread illiteracy, objects were frequently employed as subtle forms of advertising. It is probable that this cane was originally owned by a cobbler.