A folk art walking stick carved along its whole length with animals climbing the shaft: alligators with cross-hatched backs, a snake, lizards and other creatures, set into carved bark-like panels. Details are picked out in dark and green paint.
Carving canes was a favourite American pastime for soldiers, sailors, farmers and prisoners from the late 1800s well into the 1900s. Alligators, snakes and lizards were among the most popular subjects, because their long bodies fit the shape of the stick. No two are alike, and they are collected today as American folk sculpture.
