Conductors Baton or Whip?

[brockles]

My grandmother gave me an item today which was her fathers, i know for a fact its atleast 40 years old and he was headteacher and he used it for conducting but from what iv seen of other batons on the internet its too long? She says its gold but im not too sure because it looks as if its plated but there are no hallmarks. At a guess i think its leather but not too sure. Does anyone have any idea's as to age, materials and what it was designed for? It is 25 in or 64cm long.

[brockles]

another

[brockles]

another

[brockles]

Rather than uploading 8 seperate pics on 8 seperate posts because the pics are too large to upload more than one in a post
http://www.flickr.com/photos/66671422@N06/sets/72157631713179074/

[mart]

The top has a seam like it would open,,does it ??  Gold should be marked somewhere !!

[bigwull]

just because you can,t see a hallmark...does,nt mean...its not gold...if it is what i think it is then the hallmark may have worn off...this looks like a swagger stick,and the gold may be of a higher ct...and with being handled that much the mark has simply worn off...or it may be of Indian origin....Not North American...the other Indian...who did,nt always stamp their gold

[jondar]

If I had to make a guess (and that's all it would be) I would be inclined to think it's a baton.  The little gold ring attached to the head is either to hang it on something or hang something from it.  I have watched on TV shows the conductor entering the stage and going to the podium and can't remember he/she carrying a baton so it must be somewhere on the podium.  The grain of the wood mystifies me, I can't remember seeing wood with that grain.  If its a baton then the "gold" is probably real.

[brockles]

Im pretty certain that its leather. My grandmother told me its a bull's tail but its far too thin i reckon. It also doesnt appear to be joined so seems as though it could be a tail but of something much smaller possibly?

[Rauville]

I would call it a fancy "Riding Crop", with that little ring designed to have a wrist loop attached to it.

[bigwull]

i don,t think this is made from the bulls tail, i,ve got a feeling that it could be made from a bulls penis....after all they do make walking sticks/canes, and also whips from the penis..over here they are called pizzle sticks

http://www.fashionablecanes.com/Bull_Organ_Penis_Walking_Cane.html

[bigwull]

I would call it a fancy "Riding Crop", with that little ring designed to have a wrist loop attached to it.

any riding crop that i,ve seen has a little paddle or flap on the end...

[sapphire]

brockles, does it appear that there is a piece missing from the 'business' end?  Is it flexible from handle to tip?

At first glance I took it to be a driving whip. While the ones I used did not have the long flexible whip like end, this one would be the shape of a more common driving whip used in standardbred racing,though much fancier than that used in training/racing and not as long. Mind you, that was 40 years ago. 

Here is a picture of antique driving/dealer whip with the rope like end I mentioned (with a 64 cm shaft, from 1909) .....


Followed by a picture of a modern standardbred driving whip

[sapphire]

Here is a close up of the plaited linen shaft and leather handle of the 1909 whip......

[brockles]

Yea it does looks as if something could be missing at the end

[mart]

That last pic looks like braided pr plaited leather like Sapphire has shown !!  Seems a bit short for driving even with an addition !! I would guess personal riding crop with a six inch flexible braid at the tip !!  More like one used in showing not just an everyday crop !! Should have a wrist strap !!