William and Mary piqué walking cane with ivory handle and silver circlets, on a Malacca stick.
Many of these canes are dated and they were clearly produced over a short period of time. The earliest so far recorded is dated 1687; the latest 1717. This fact, in conjunction with so many similarities in style and method of making suggest all may have been made in one workshop or even by one craftsman. It is further likely that this workshop has a Huguenot origin as the technique of piqué-work came to England with the fleeing Protestants following the Edict of Nantes, 1665, stripping the Huguenots of all civil and religious liberties.