MEET THE COLLECTORS

Anthony Moss

founding member & joint Chairman of The Antique Cane Society

WALKING CANES

‘Collecting has always been my craving, starting at the tender age of nine, collecting books. Coming from an inherently poor family, we had little in the way of personal possessions, so when my wife Deanna and I got married 57 years ago, we bought Victorian furniture as it was cheap. In the 1970s, our appetite expanded to encompass a wide range of antiques and collectables. In 1998 Deanna made the mistake of buying me a few walking canes, and thus my passion as a ‘Rabologist’ – a collector or student of walking sticks – began. Collecting is like controlled hoarding; to some degree an obsession and illness. The thrill is the discovery, and as I wander around an antiques fair my eyes are trained to only see walking canes. I am not driven by buying only the best, but by finding a rare example and a missing specimen to add to the 2,600-plus pieces in my collection. It is worth pointing out the difference between a cane and a stick – one carries a cane and walks with a stick.

‘Nowadays, collectors and dealers approach me with offers