A RARE AND EARLY 'LAONGO IVORY' (HIPPOPOTAMUS), EBONY AND SILVER WALKING CANE
 

Laongo/Congo, 19th century, the silver mount engraved and dated Glasgow 1st Nov 1866
 

The plain ebony cane with hand rest in hippopotamus tooth, carved with nude and simply dress figures, and silver mounts, the top mount engraved with the text "Presented to Andw Dunlop by Dr. T.D. Allison, M.D.M.R.C.S. Eng R.M., Glasgow 1st Nov 1866.

 

L. 95 cm


Note:
T.D.Allison was an assistant doctor serving in the Royal Navy. In 1864 he served on board the HMS Jaseur, a ship that was involved in the anti-slavery campaign of the “West Africa Squadron”. The famous explorer Richard Francis Burton in a letter mentions T.D.Allison as doctor on board the Jaseur. In his book Mission to Gelele, Burton writes that he boarded HMS Jaseur for a trip to the Oil Rivers in Nigeria. Andrew Dunlop was a surgeon in Glasgow and possibly T.D.Allison’s superior. The hippo-tusk hilt is an early example of the famous “Loango ivories”. The carving is of high quality and the figures are mostly nude or simply dressed. Later Loango carvings usually show more European style clothing. Probably Dr. Allison bought only the carved tooth in Africa and had it made into a walking stick with the engraved silver band in Glasgow where he presented it to Andrew Dunlop.

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This walking cane comes with a certificate by an independent valuer stating that the object is pre-CITES (pre-1947), we will gladly be of assistance with obtaining CITES certificates if needed.