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Sellers's Details

WALPOLES

Tel: +44 (0)207 7275263

Email: [email protected]

https://www.decorativecollective.com/dealers/walpoles

Item Details

A childs’ dress cane, owned by one John Holman, the shaft turned from a piece of jawbone taken from a sperm whale, the top fashioned from a tooth of the creature and engraved on alternative faces ‘J.R Holman, Topsham, Devon, 1873’. length:24 inches John Holman, a master mariner, was one of Devon's principal ship builders and a founder of the West of England Marine Insurance Company, the company growing to become one of the countries largest maritime insurers. During the 1850s his yard in Topsham employed upwards of 200 men and 80 apprentices. The introduction of iron ships saw a rapid decline in shipbuilding in the town, with the only iron ship from Topsham launched from the Holman yard. The yard closed in 1874 and was converted into a dry-dock for ship repairs. Shipbuilding supported many other activities - sail making, rope making, chain and anchor forging, sack making and nail making. John Holman also set up a nail works on the Strand which was later taken over by the Wigzell Brothers. The attached photograph showing a child with a similar cane is for illustrative pruposes only. It dos not show the cane offered here.

  • Period:
    • Price: £550.00
    • €651 Euro
    • $678 US Dollar
  • Location: London