Cane
Canes were an elegant accessory in the 19th century, when the afternoon promenade gave members of the fashionable set occasion to display their finery and genteel manners. This novelty cane contains a miraculously slender umbrella, thus tripling its functionality for looking chic, walking steadily, and protecting the user from an inclement turn in the weather. Constructing an umbrella this slim required refined mechanical technology, an advancement on which umbrella manufacturers prided themselves in the late 19th century. While similar devices are still manufactured today, the beautifully slim and tapered line of the earlier pieces is no longer seen.
Artwork Details
- Title: Cane
- Date: 1880–89
- Culture: American or European
- Medium: wood, metal, silk, wool
- Credit Line: Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Maxime L. Hermanos, 1961
- Object Number: 2009.300.1286a–e
- Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute
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