This cane is crafted using possibly the most unique material I’ve ever used. The handle and shaft are wood from an ancient kauri tree that was buried in the ground for 40,000-50,000 years! That's right, this wood dates back to the earliest cave paintings at approximately 40,000 BC. The Bering land bridge between Alaska and Russia broke apart approximately 20,000 years ago and the Woolly mammoth went extinct 8,000 years ago. It's hard to fathom 40,000 years. Wood like this is called "sinker" wood. A tree lives a typical life span but when it dies and falls it is covered in peat moss or falls into a bog, both of which create an oxygen deprived environment that perfectly preserves the wood. Ancient Kauri is the oldest "workable" wood in the world, the only wood that is older is petrified wood which is no longer wood but stone. Kauri is not just cool for being old though, its an extremely chatoyant wood with a very sparkly and dynamic grain. This effect can’t be captured in still images but its very obvious and beautiful in person, even in dim light but especially in bright light environments. The handle on this cane is my most figured ancient kauri wood I have, it has different bands, stripes, and patterns to its grain.

The end of the handle is decorated with petrified wood, the oldest “wood” being many millions of years old, but its not wood anymore and has turned to stone, colorful agate. It has a few colors, some match the kauri wood nicely, others the brass, and the red ties into the thin accent layers of Brazilian bloodwood. A beautiful and harmonious design I’m quite pleased with.

Cane weight is less than average for my work, has a quality feel and sturdy but has a weight that feels easily caried for long events. Total length measures 38” and can be shortened to fit.

The last image is of the excavation of an absolutely massive ancient kauri tree section in the northern part of New Zealand. These giant trees were likely a couple thousand years old when they fell.

M A T E R I A L S

Handle – Ancient Kauri from Northern New Zealand
Divider –Brass and Brazilian bloodwood
Shaft – Ancient Kauri from Northern New Zealand

Lapidary - Petrified wood from an estate collection of stones, unknown geographic origin.
Rubber tip

Every Gillis Cane is a photographed original, you’ll always receive the exact cane in the images.