Walking cane used by Thomas King as Sir Peter Teazle in The School for Scandal and as Puff in The Critic. Presented to Henry Irving by John Hollingshead and used by Irving as Dr. Primrose in Olivia and as the title character in Robespierre. With two silver plated medallions, engraved with the history of the cane.

Stage properties belonging to famous actors can take on special significance and may be passed from one great theatrical name to another. Sometimes the provenance can be difficult to determine, but this walking cane has its history engraved on two medallions, originally attached to the cane on a chain. The first owner was the actor Thomas King (1730-1805) who created the roles of Sir Peter Teazle in The School for Scandal (1777) and Mr Puff in The Critic (1779) in Sheridan's plays when they were first presented at Drury Lane. King used the walking cane in both plays.

The cane later came into the possession of theatre manager John Hollingshead (1827-1904), who presented it to actor-manager Henry Irving (1838-1905). Irving used it in his own productions at the Lyceum Theatre. According to the inscription on one of the medallions, these were Olivia, a version of Goldsmith’s novel The Vicar of Wakefield which featured Irving as Dr Primrose (1885), and Sardou’s play Robespierre(1899), in which he played the title character. The cane was among the collection of Irving’s possessions, auctioned at Christie's after the actor’s death in 1905. In 1979 it was given to the V&A, along with a memorial postcard commemorating Irving, which was mounted with extracts from the auction catalogue (S.433-1979).