Magic Collection of Jim Rawlins Part IV

Carter, Charles. Carter the Great’s Appearing Lamp. New York: Rudolf Schlosser, 1920s. Together with a Vanishing Lamp, constructed by Paul Lembo to work in concert with, and match the original precisely. At the command of the performer, an illuminated lamp with wide cloth shade vanishes from atop a thin wooden table at one side of the stage. Moments later, the lamp reappears on another table some distance away. The appearing lamp hallmarked internally by Schlosser. Table height 42”. The appearing lamp restored to good working condition; the vanishing lamp nearly as-new. Perhaps the only known surviving example of this Schlosser effect is the appearing lamp offered here. It was once owned and used by Charles Carter, and was later displayed along with his other props at a San Francisco nightclub. The lamp has been restored to working condition by Paul Lembo, who crafted the matching vanishing lamp to complete the set. Schlosser remains best-known as a builder of feather flowers, including Blackstone’s “backpack” rosebush, but he was also a gifted mechanic who created intricate stage illusions (including the Light Bulb Cabinet), and Houdini’s mechanically complex flower growth tables.