This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/26/2022
Carter, Charles. Wire from Carter’s Kellar Levitation Apparatus. Circa 1920. Thin piece of blackened wire terminating in loops at either end and coiled into a circle, formerly used in Carter’s rendition of the classic Levitation illusion, using apparatus constructed by Harry Kellar in his Los Angeles home. Removed from the device by John Gaughan, the owner of Carter’s apparatus, and presented to Ken Klosterman. This seemingly innocent piece of wire is in fact a significant part of magic’s history. As Mike Caveney wrote in his 1995 book Carter the Great, “The Carter show yielded many treasures but none were more important than the Levitation.” After the passing of Harry Kellar in 1922 it would be over a decade before Carter was able to purchase the illusion from his family, but eventually, after considerable negotiation, he added it to his show, updated it with modern technology, and began performing it regularly. After the Carter show was acquired in 1991, the original wires – one of which is being offered here – were removed by the new owner and replaced.