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18th- and 19th-Century Walking Sticks from the Hermitage Collection The use of walking sticks is a long tradition with roots deep in the past. The original purpose of the walking stick as a successor to the staff providing assistance in walking later changed significantly and by the 17th and 18th centuries it was already being regarded as an item of dress, an indicator of the social status of its owner. It is believed that in Russia interest in this new element of costume developed through the activities of Peter the Great, his acquaintance with daily life in Europe and with museum collections there. As the Russian court in St Petersburg looked to Europe in matters of taste, walking sticks became for a long period a standard attribute of civilian attire. The first examples of walking sticks that had belonged to nobles became exhibits in the rarities section of the St Petersburg Kunstkammer. The Hermitage now possesses five walking sticks that belonged to Peter the Great. As the 18th century advanced walking sticks became increasingly common in Western Europe and Russia. Most frequently they were made from cane, hence the use of the word as an alternative for "walking stick" in English and a similar link (trostnik - trost) in Russian. Walking sticks were, however, also made from rare varieties of wood, bulrush, horn, tortoiseshell, ivory and mother-of-pearl. They were generally given a metal tip. Holes were made in the upper part of the stick to take a ribbon that was used to make it easier to carry and as a decoration that may have had symbolic meaning (the ribbon of an order). The most eloquent part of a walking stick, though, was the handle, often exceptionally decorative, rich and finished with careful refinement. The State Hermitage collection contains a large number of walking sticks, many of them made in the second half of the 18th century. Particularly notable are the sticks that belonged to Catherine II. Some items in this collection have heads created by St Petersburg jewellers in gold and enamel over a guilloche background, and even with patterns of diamonds. There are, for example, sticks embellished with the Empress's monogram fashioned in diamonds. Sticks played a certain role in court etiquette. They could also be diplomatic gifts or signs of especial favour. The museum collection includes one of Catherine's walking sticks that is made of light-coloured bulrush and has a handle of smooth polished amber mounted in a gold setting studded with diamonds. It is believed that this item of the Empress's property may have been among the gifts that Frederick the Great of Prussia made to her at various times. Catherine herself gave a splendid diamond-studded walking stick to Gustavus III of Sweden on the fifteenth anniversary of her coming to the throne. Outstanding is the walking stick created by Frederick Fabriņius, the jeweller to the Danish royal court, and presented to Catherine II to mark the Russian victory in the first Russo-Turkish War. This work might be considered typical, were it not for a new technical discovery that makes it unique. When a medallion is opened, a turning action reveals miniatures devoted to the events of the war. A watch mechanism is mounted in the top of the handgrip. The museum collection includes one more stick with a watch mounted in the top, once the property of Paul I. After the revolution in 1917, the museum collection was enlarged by a considerable number of sticks taken from the private collections of the St Petersburg nobility. Among the most interesting of these was the collection of the Princes Yusupov (some 200 sticks from the 18th and 19th centuries), striking for the variety of materials used and the quality of workmanship in the details. |
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 Walking stick incorporating measuring instruments Early 18th century Larger view |
 Portrait of Paul I Stepan Shchukin Larger view |
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 Walking stick with miniatures Last quarter of the 18th century Larger view |
 Walking stick made of coconut wood Late 18th century Larger view |
 Light-coloured cane walking stick Mid-18th century Larger view |
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