A novelty cane is all about exuding a progressive sense of fashion, a style so unique that it makes the cane an item of novelty. These aren’t your usual walking or mobility aids. By making fun of what will be said and taking care of the least object and utensil, Gauguin seeks a return to roots, to an art that could not be simpler, where Beauty can interfere everywhere.When we discuss luxurious canes with an upmarket, exclusive appeal, Novelty Canes need a special consideration. The paradoxical figure of the artist is perfectly illustrated in the case of this plain walking cane. The manufacture of this walking cane reveals a real meticulousness: we can see the time required to carve these figures with the knife, the complicated technical process of improving the drawings, the placement of an iron ring at the base level, everything indicates a fastidious work.
The care taken by Gauguin to draw the figures, the most important of which are the ones behind the knob, is obvious, as well as a monogram on the ears of the figure, found at two thirds of its height: his left ear forms a P and his right ear a G. The wood was first burned, then polished with sand on the smooth surfaces, so that the details, now blackened, are more intensely revealed. However, the material used, identified as hawthorn wood, suggests that this cane was carved and then used, in France, between the artist’s two stays in Polynesia. In the case presented herein, the cane carved on its entire surface, we are immediately carried away to Polynesia. The result could be purely geometrical, anthropomorphic, even an allusion to the animal kingdom. Sometimes he sculpted only the knob while others he worked with the entire material. Just as any great walker, Gauguin began carving canes from his teen years.
The fact that wood carving had a decorative, even practical value, did not prevent him from fully including it in his artistic production and feeling proud of it. He carved, modelled and engraved with the same care as he did in his other sculptures and paintings. Thus, he carried out numerous works of art on wood, for all types of use in Paris, Brittany as well as in Polynesia: clogs, jewellery, paper knives, flasks, daggers, benches, bookcases, wardrobes, bowls, spoons, frames, wine barrels and walking canes.
Paul Gauguin had always been skilled with his hands, particularly being fond of working with wood using a knife.
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