This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/26/2022
Card Ladder. New Haven: Petrie & Lewis, ca. 1924. Three cards are selected from the pack, which is placed in a nickeled houlette at the top of the ladder. The cards then cascade down it’s length, filling a bowl at its base. But the three selected cards remain on its rungs, each at a different position. Height 54”. Mechanical in operation. With three of prepared cards, matching forcing deck, and an elaborate packing case custom made for the ladder to hold it securely while in transit. Accompanied by a letter of provenance from John Henry Grossman identifying this as the first ladder made by P&L for the inventor of the effect, John Chapman. Grossman obtained the ladder from Chapman, and then sold it to Klosterman. Rare.