Thursday, June 17, 1999

With canes, he's able

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Montgomery artisan creates unique and 'gorgeous' walking sticks

BY MIKE PULFER
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Rand Vap designs and produces walking sticks. (Michael E. Keating photos) | ZOOM |

        Speak softly. Carry a fine stick. Or maybe park it on a book shelf or in a curio cabinet or an umbrella stand.

        The message is the same: “It's a symbol of power,” says walking-stick artist Rand Vap. An indication you have arrived.

        The urge to tap out one's success apparently is growing. Mr. Vap, a gemologist and former mortgage banker, is spending more time in his basement work room at home, where he designs, builds and finishes walking sticks with distinctive handles in precious metals.

        The man is distinctive himself, often sporting a bow tie.

Vap uses an electric polishing brush on a sterling pig's head. | ZOOM |

        “When I first started wearing bow ties in 1980, about the only place you could get them was Brooks Brothers,” he said. “Later, they kind of came into vogue.

        “In 1983, I started making walking sticks, and you still can't find them. But I will say the collecting society has grown extremely powerful.”

        Some examples with finely designed handles, especially those with historic value, are selling for more than $20,000, he said.

        Mr. Vap's prices, so far, have ranged from $1,200 to $6,500.

        But don't let that hold you back.

        “I can make anything,” he says, without the braggadocio the comment implies. By incorporating precious jewels in a design, “I could make one for $100,000.”

        In most cases, he says, his clients are wealthy. “Multi-millionaires,” he suggests. And not too particular.

        “Most of them just send me money and say, "Make me something,' ”

        Some come back for more. A collector in Chicago has bought four of his sticks in the past few years.

WHERE TO BUY

Looking for a good way to add zest to your step?   Rand Vap's walking sticks come with original drawings and a velvet-lined carrying case. For an additional fee, you can get a slender, velvet-lined wooden storage box.   You can contact Mr. Vap at mvap.iglou.com or 793-1684.

        The shapes Mr. Vap designs and hand sculpts for handles can be those of real animals — horses, dogs, fish, elephants, giraffes — or composite animals — a dog-horse hybrid. They can be women's bodies, or symbols of American life — a wine cork, a flower, a trademark.

        These days, he's at work on a walking stick for the leading office-holder for the Scottish Rite of Washington state. A detailed Rite emblem is engraved in the handle.

        Most handles are sterling silver or brass, although Mr. Vap has dabbled in white porcelain. Woods — from Africa — include ebony, pink ivory, sudan wood and bird's eye maple.

        Average time to complete a walking stick: 35-40 hours, although one took him 10 years.

        Clients are encouraged to visit Mr. Vap at his home in Montgomery, where he helps them select a stick and stick size.

        “If you have a stick, you gotta use it,” he says, downplaying the fact that he packs one when he travels.

        Sticks aren't fashion accessories, “because they aren't fashionable.” Certainly, he says, “They aren't needed.”

        Although most of his clients don't use them, he seems proud of those who do.

        Margaret Smith, a downtown Cincinnati woman who owns one of Mr. Vap's creations, likes to have it with her “whenever it's not raining — and it depends a lot on where I'm going.”

        “She takes it out for a spin every now and then,” Mr. Vap said, with just a hint of a chuckle.

        While shopping in a downtown jewelry store, Ms. Smith, who collects elephant art, mentioned her wish that “someday, I'm going to have an elephant cane.

        “It was a whim, one could say. I always liked the idea of a cane with a head on it.”

        Mr. Vap told her, “I'll make you one.”

        “He did a good job,” she said.

        Mr. Vap came to her apartment, looked at her collection and talked to her about what she wanted.

        “Then he went back to his little cubby hole and did some sketches,” Ms. Smith said.

        After several revisions on paper and subsequent clay models, they had the perfect design — an elongated head in silver — and a perfect fit for Ms. Smith's hand. The cane itself is teak.

        “I can hold it with the trunk out or in,” she said.

        Ms. Smith has been using a cane — usually her “everyday cane” — for about three years because of a back problem. She has had the elephant cane for about a year.

        “I hate to carry it all the time,” she said. “It was very expensive.”

        Seven years ago, Dr. Samuel Kramer, a pathologist from Dayton, Ohio, ordered a sterling rabbit-head handle with an ebony stick for his mother, “Bunny,” then passed it along to his mother-in-law when his mother became bed-ridden.

        Today, the cane, which carries the initials of both women, is on display in Mr. Kramer's home.

        “It's a very nice looking piece,” he said. “If you have to use a cane — particularly if you're an older woman, why not have something eloquent?”

        Mr. Vap's creations are that.

        “These are gorgeous walking sticks ... museum pieces really,” said Greg Kern, a Chicago manufacturer's rep who has bought three from Mr. Vap. “Others pale in comparison. It's like the difference between a Rolls Royce and a Chevy.”

       

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