Before batons, conductor’s used conducting staffs, which were often quite long. Jean-Baptiste LULLY (1632-1687) died of gangrene after stabbing his foot with a long conducting staff and refusing to have his toe amputated. Things moved on and the staffs got smaller – batons emerged. They became popular from the beginning of the nineteenth century onwards, but weren’t popular with everyone.

Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) is known to have said ‘If one [the conductor] uses a baton, the baton itself must be a living thing, charged with a kind of electricity, which makes it an instrument of meaning in its tiniest movement.’

This conductor’s baton is in perfect condition. It is really light and can be unscrewed at the centre. The baton is not engraved – making it a perfect presentation gift!

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