Possible American Folk Art Boxing Greats Cane

Awesome! Thanks!

 

Also, not sure if anyone else noticed, but the handle is in fact a carved rendition of Mr. Sam Langford's image.

Could quite possibly be Canadian or more likely in my opinion, African-American Folk Art.

This is what's known as a cross collectible and has lots of appeal not only to collectors of Folk Art, but also collectors of African-American Americana, cane collectors and collectors of boxing sports memorabilia.

Awesome piece...congrats!

 

Just a quick WOW. I couldn't find anything that came close to this one. A few others words for describing it might be a hand carved walking stick of pugilists!

--- Susan

 

Congrats what a cool unique find! Looks like a win win win

 

Thank you everyone for your help. I've contacted the heritage auction site and I'm considering auctioning it with them in their auction that's taking place in May.

 

Good luck, Gavin! Hope it goes through the roof for you.

 

Really do thorough research. I had a valuable cane and I allowed it to go to auction without setting a reserve and it went for a paltry sum. Get a good appraisal and set a reserve. If you don't and no one else bids, someone can get it for $50. Learn from my mistake.

 

I'm looking for a bit more advise here please. Like I said previously I've been in touch with heritage auctions, they estimated the cane to be worth 2k range. I've never dealt with an auction house before so don't know how things work. My issue is that they won't accept a reserve. They say that they don't offer reserves on items this value. Is this correct? Also would I be a fool to send this to auction without a reserve? Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

Hi Gav,

Congrats on your cane. We deal with auction houses roughly 4x per year and mid-level auction houses such as Heritage and others don't accept reserves on items valued this low. It's usually items somewhere in the mid to high 5-figures and above that they will accept a reserve. All the items we send to auction we send with no reserve and they always do well. You have nothing to worry about, your item should do very well given its unique cross collectability. So no, you won't be a fool. The only thing that would be foolish is if you don't adhere to the advise these folks (Heritage) are providing you with. They work for you and their job is to get the most money out of your item that they can......because the more you make, the more they make!

If you choose to deal with them, they'll most likely send you a consigners contract via the mail or you can fill one out on-line. Once this is done, you'll send your item to them and they'll do the rest. All you need to do is sit back and wait for that nice fat check to roll-in in the very near future.

I wish you much luck and many bids.....congrats!

 

It is, of course, a risk. You have to weigh this risk with the potential for higher return through the auction house. I don't know about Heritage, but most auction houses tend to underestimate the appeal of items in order to assure happy consignors. There are always those items that don't meet low estimates but an auction house that consistently underperforms will not continue to have consignors.

You can always try to sell this on your own on ebay or elsewhere for somewhere near the auction estimate. However, if you are not successful, you run the risk of over-exposure for your item and dwindling return down the line. Everyone wants fresh merchandise and many auctions will turn down items that have been shopped around without a sale. This item is unique so word will get around pretty quickly if it has been shopped around.

Ask yourself if you could get even 1K on ebay for this. If the answer is no, you are probably better to consign to the auction house. I don't know what you paid for this but, if the potential return is large in comparison, it is probably worth a bit of a gamble. Besides, it could always take off at auction and go higher than estimate. Just be sure that it is featured in an appropriate auction of sports memorabilia. You don't want this to go in a general auction.

 

If you have a price in mind that you will not accept less than , then sell it yourself....where ever best you can.

If you're willing to let the market set the price , & give up 20% of the value , & wait for your money 45 to 60 days after the sale , then find an auction house with a good track record for sports sales .......read their contract fully....sign it over ....and let the professionals do the work.

 

Hi,
Just my humble opinion. Let the auction house do the work. I would be so afraid of getting scammed on a big item on ebay. I had a man buy an expensive vase return it as being cracked and got a brick in return. Ever since then when I had a big price tag item returned I opened it in front of the postmaster. Now where you can return things 120 days later on ebay, let the house have the problems.
greg

 

Thank you everyone for your feedback. It's been much appreciated!
I'm currently in the process of packing the cane and sending it to heritage, so fingers crossed!
Thanks again, gavin.

 

Best of luck, Gavin! It's a really cool thing.

 

Keep us updated on the process ....so we can learn what you learn !!

Good luck !

 

I hope you get premium price.

 

I wish you much luck and many bids, Gav!