Looking to add to collection of 19th (hopefully some 18th) century tipstaves.

[Nightbreak]

Joining to ask if anyone would have additional information or know of any antique sellers who would have this style of Scottish 'short' staves.  They're between 24 and 36 inches in length, have the royal cypher on the top and either the town crest or name on the base, often with a number for either the officer or district.  I'm afraid I've pretty much run through the dealers online.  (There's one left at the Lanes Armory, but its damage is still putting me off making an offer).

These were carried by the High Constables, magistrates, and other enforcers of the law in various Scottish burghs.  Before uniforms and badges in the mid-1800s, these were used as the authority from the King or Queen to perform the duties of the police, hence the royal cypher.  Often they're ceremonial as opposed to practical, but they're still a subset of the decorated truncheons used throughout the UK.

There's also a subset that I've only seen mentioned once, and that's the 'manorial stave', which allegedly seem to be the decorated cudgels carried by footmen and other manor staff.  Some appeared at Keys auction last year and I was unsuccessful in bidding for them, but they've touched off a search that has left me frustrated at the lack of information about the topic.  It's possible the auction house merely coined the term for the sale and I'm looking for something else altogether.



The staves pictured here are my own collection so far:

George III - Kinross-shire Constabulary

William IV - Aberdeen

George III - Calton, Glasgow

1911 Investiture of the Prince of Wales "Green Staff Officer's Baton"

George III - Edinburgh Midlothian Magistrate's staff

Victoria - Kirkcaldy

George III - Brechin

Victoria - Perthshire.


For truncheon collectors, there's Mervyn Mitton's book "A Policeman's Lot", from the 80s, and more recently Alan Cook's "Truncheons: An Unequal Match", but neither go into much detail about the Scottish ones.  I'm Canadian, and I should probably try to win the lottery or something so I can go spend a few weeks in Scotland myself, rummaging around!

[ghopper1924]

Thanks for your very interesting post. I confess that I have never heard of tipstaves before today, so I'll be of little help. Nevertheless, your post was well-done and informative, and I definitely learned someting.

[mart]

Very interesting !!  But as Ghopper said,,I am no help either being in the US !!  However Ipcress who is in the UK and has worked cataloguing museum collections may have information !!

[Rauville]

I'm not able to be of any help either, but a short search shows that they are not inexpensive to collect. http://www.jcmilitaria.com/police_truncheons.asp?Start=20&Offset=10

Hopefully someone will be along to offer some useful advice.
(We used to have a Scottish member on here, until old Wasyl left. )

[Nightbreak]

I nicked both Brechin and Kirkcaldy from JC Militaria last year, and for the most part, they're not 'bad', although the exchange rate from the pound can often sting, never mind the shipping costs.

A few collections have recently been up for auction, which is where I got the majority of my pieces (and I regret not bidding on several others, but I was just starting out on tipstaves and truncheons and hadn't specialized yet in purely 'Scottish' ones).

The one other example on this forum, back in 2013, was a nice, more traditional brass and wood tipstaff, and the one KC found with the oar inside is known as an "Admiralty Oar".  It gave the bearer power to not only execute search warrants on land, but search and seize ships, as well as summon the Royal Navy to aid you in whatever endeavors you were on.

[mart]

Fascinating !!  Must look up KC`s info on that one !!

[Nightbreak]

Update:  There was an auction from another collector recently, and I was a successful bidder.  The pieces are still in transit, but the collection has grown.  Not only that, a week after, I was also successful at pairing my 1911 Investiture staff with one from the Coronation of the Prince's father, George V.



Green Staff Officer's Baton: Investiture of the Prince of Wales at Caernarvon Castle:  July 13, 1911.  The first in over 600 years.

Gold Staff Officer's Baton: Coronation of His Majesty, George V: June 22, 1911.

These were carried by ushers who escorted dignitaries to their seats for the events.  Perhaps a couple dozen exist for each, although I haven't seen any more from the Investiture.  So far, not sure whether to re-approach the College of Arms or the Royal Collection to see about lists of those who were appointed to that position.

[SophieMarie]

It certainly would be interesting to know the lists of those who were appointed to that position.  Also, congratulations on your new purchase...I find the topic of tipstaves very interesting.  Having no knowledge of tipstaves, I've learned something by reading your post.  Thank you!

[Nightbreak]

I had no knowledge, either, until I read Chris McCreery's book "Canadian Symbols of Authority: The Maces, Rods, and Chains of Office".  Tipstaves are mentioned once, as the RCMP in Canada has one traditionally passed down from one Commissioner to the next.  It's of the more 'wood and brass' type usually carried by the inspectors, used to house the paper warrants, prior to the introduction of the warrant card itself in 1880.  I fell into those collecting clutches rather quickly.

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/news/columns-and-international/miscellaneana/miscellaneana-truncheons/

LiveAuctioneers did a feature on truncheons and tipstaves a couple of years ago when Canterbury had a sale of a collection.  I picked up my Investiture and Aberdeen staves there.  They were also the most recent sale auctioneers where I snagged another five lots, including a few from Keys that I'd missed last year.  The collector had obviously tired of them and passed them back into the auction pool.

[KC]

Congratulations on your new additions!  You have got a very fascinating collection!  Thanks for keeping us up to date!

[Ipcress]

Hi Nightbreak ! What a grand collection !

Yes, Keys are the only auction house to use the term Manorial stave.

If you haven’t already, I would register for free with the-Saleroom.com and enter tipstaff ( and variations ) in the search box, then save that search as an aler. Even if it returns no entries now, whenever an auction house uses that term in their catalogue, you’ll be notified by email.

Some tipstaves are described incorrectly as truncheons.

[Nightbreak]

Ipcress:  Thanks!  Yeah, I'm a Saleroom member.  That's where I've procured most of my lots over the last four years.    I've also learned to look for 'staff' or 'stave' when tipstaves or truncheons are mentioned, as often collectors have many varieties and they get listed differently.  With the latest Canterbury Auction gallery, I recognized it was a collectors' series and dug out most of the manorial staves I'd missed last year.

It's just once in a while, something will come up from a dealer, like the Magistrate's staff I picked up this summer from someone whose family had found it at an antique fair.  I'm also almost on my own now on the subject of Scottish staves, since both Mervyn Mitton and John Green have passed away.  I have elements from both their collections in mine now and I need to learn so much more.

I realize I haven't shown off one piece in my collection yet, because it was part of an earlier display, discarded in favour of later pictures.



This is an Edinburgh High Constable's Tipstaff.  Ebony and Silver-capped, about 5 inches long, seen here with my Perthshire High Constable's staff for comparison.  The George III coat of arms on one cap, with the Edinburgh coat of arms on the other.  One cap is inscribed "Instituted 1698" around the rim, the other "E.H.C.  No. 114", which is the constable's number.  I've seen numbers 230 and 129 come up for sale before, and Mervyn had about four in his collection at one point.

The ebony and silver tipstaves can be found for Glasgow and Holyrood House (the Queen's Scottish residence), and come in many varieties.