Nicole Smith
Specialist, Head of Sale
Lot 19
A FRENCH ART NOUVEAU STERLING SILVER CHAMELEON CANEDesigned and executed by Lucien Gaillard, Paris, circa 1900-1905
8 December 2025, 15:00 EST
New YorkUS$3,000 - US$5,000
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Codie Lyons
Associate Specialist
Anna Hicks
Head of Department, Private & Iconic Collections, North America
Cassandra D'Cruz
Specialist, Head of Sale
A FRENCH ART NOUVEAU STERLING SILVER CHAMELEON CANE
Designed and executed by Lucien Gaillard, Paris, circa 1900-1905
The silver handle in the form of a crouching chameleon, inscribed LEO STEIN, on a mahogany shaft with a metal ferrule.
height overall 35 3/4in (90.8cm); height of handle 2 1/2in (6.4cm); width 4in (10.2cm)
The silver handle in the form of a crouching chameleon, inscribed LEO STEIN, on a mahogany shaft with a metal ferrule.
height overall 35 3/4in (90.8cm); height of handle 2 1/2in (6.4cm); width 4in (10.2cm)
Footnotes
Leo Stein was an American writer and art critic, and an early champion of Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, and Pablo Picasso. The Stein name is perhaps more famously immortalized by his younger sister Gertrude, whom Leo is credited to introducing to modern art.
An early collector, Stein was a proponent of modern art until around 1910 when he began to eschew the work of the Cubists. During World War I, he wrote regular art reviews and criticism for the New Republic but gradually began dividing his time between Italy and France.
Provenance
Il Segno del Tempo, Milan;
Collection of Eddi Van Auken, California, purchased from the above October 2012.
Literature
Van Auken, Eddi. Masterpieces: The Eddi Van Auken Collection of Antiques Walking Sticks and Canes. Silvia Editrice, Milan, 2025, page 76-77, number 47. (illustrated)
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