On View
On viewWalking Stick
Artist
Henry David Thoreau
1817 - 1862
Dateca. 1853
Terms
- Walking Sticks
- Birch
- Concord (Massachusetts)
Dimensions2.54 × 2.54 × 96.45 cm (1 × 1 × 38 in.)
MarkingsLeather tag on file: "Thoreau's Walking Stick. Given by his sister Sophia to H.G.O. Blake, and by him to E.H. Russell (1898)." On back: "Given by me to Lee Russell Dec. 31, 1912 - E.H. Russell".
Credit LineWalking Stick, Henry David Thoreau, Concord, MA, about 1853. Concord Museum Collection, Gift of Lee, Olive, and Earnest Russell; Th34.
Object numberTh34
DescriptionWalking stick, made of unidentified hardwood (possibly birch). The bark is peeled along one side, making a flat surface about 1/2" wide that is carefully marked with 25 notches, to form a 2' rule (yardstick) with 1" divisions. There is a twenty-sixth notch, made inaccurately with a different tool, at the other end of the rule which is clearly a later addition.
The knife work is comparable to what is seen on the birch tap (Th33e) and on the flute (Th40), indicating its maker as H.D. Thoreau. He may have used this walking stick to measure the depth of snow, comparing its depth under trees with its depth in the middle of a meadow, perhaps, or following snow depth through a series of storms.
The knife work is comparable to what is seen on the birch tap (Th33e) and on the flute (Th40), indicating its maker as H.D. Thoreau. He may have used this walking stick to measure the depth of snow, comparing its depth under trees with its depth in the middle of a meadow, perhaps, or following snow depth through a series of storms.
Collections
- Henry David Thoreau Collection
Object number: 2023.17.10
Object number: 2023.17.12
Object number: 2023.17.14