Lot 116: Edgar Tolson Snake Cane

Campton, Wolfe County, Kentucky, 1960-1980. A carved and painted wooden cane by Edgar Tolson (1904 to 1984). White cane with black snake. Mounted on metal stand; ht. 33.5 in.
Edgar Tolson (1904-1984) was a woodcarver from Kentucky who became a well-known folk artist. He was born in Trent Fork, Wolfe County, and educated through the sixth grade. In his youth, woodcarving was always a hobby. Although Tolson began working in the tradition of the Appalachian woodcarvers before him, after suffering a stroke in 1957, he became a full-time woodcarver and artist. Tolson first came to national attention through the Grassroots Craftsmen, an initiative of Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty that helped Appalachian craftspeople to sell their works.

wear to paint on knob.