The cane was given to the Museum in 1900 by a family connection of the descendant of Mr Bryant, to whom George III had given it. He was an acquaintance who lived in Slough (near Windsor) and supplied the King with books and puppies. A number of portraits of King George III in his later life show him with a cane, which he chose to use when out walking, for example the portrait by Peter Edward Stroehling (1768–c.1826) which depict him in 1807 on a terrace at Windsor Castle in his Windsor Uniform (devised for his private household), leaning on a cane, his faithful spaniel looking up at him expectantly.

This cane is a reminder of how European trading and imperial expansion provided supplies of new materials, which were made up into fashionable commodities in European workshops. Each component of the cane probably came from a different part of the world, from territories colonized by different European powers. The rattan, which is lightweight but strong, took its name from the Malacca Straits, which the Portuguese charted in the sixteenth century; it grows indigenously in Sumatra. The fact that this cane is made of a single piece of rattan reveals it to be a superior product, as it did not need to have joins in order to make it long enough. The ivory probably came from India. The origins of the gold are more difficult to determine, as gold was continually recycled from old gold items given to jewellers, including gold coins from different countries.