Cane

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

The Costume Institute

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Costume Institute's collection of more than thirty-three thousand objects represents seven centuries of fashionable dress and accessories for men, women, and children, from the fifteenth century to the present.

Metropolitan Museum of Art