The cane as a work of art
Pierre Vanherck's new cane was revealed on the evening of Thursday 30 November 2017 at the award ceremony of the Prix Champagne 2018 awarded to this craftsman from Lille by the Comité Champagne and the Champagne Bureau of the Benelux. An award which delighted this 53-year-old man who never dreamed that, one day, he would be able to make a living from selling his canes The work rewarded consists of a few silver cylinders set in rosewood, a hardwood with many veins, in order to depict Champagne bubbles, the bottle of which is stylised on a silver pastille set into the knob.
Pierre Vanherck started his career as an electromechanical engineer and computer scientist before leaving it all behind in order to devote himself to his passion for wood, firstly through mentoring. He started to make furniture and was recognised as a craftsman by the Walloon Brabant Office for Arts & Crafts in 2000. But, over the past five years, he has specialised in making canes.
He sells his work in Japan and Paris; he received a commission for a cane for Pope Benedict XVI; he improved his technique in order to associate different types of wood. He also joined forces with two engravers - Pascal Doulière and Maëla Serra from Grav’Art - and two jewellers - Françoise Zeegers and Marc Degeye. Plenty of solutions for offering canes that integrate systems revealing watches, silver coins and even original commands, a small item of feminine pleasure, as well as genuine works of art, such as this walking stick set with diamonds that form a scale representation of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. "A man's spirit may be divined from the way he holds his cane", claimed Honoré de Balzac. Nowadays, Pierre Vanherck can "make everything possible!" The cane is back in fashion.