This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/29/2022
PENETRATION OF MATTER. New York: Okito, ca. 1900s. A sheet of solid silk is attached to a handsomely decorated wooden frame. A moveable target is placed at the center of the cloth, and then wands, handkerchiefs and other objects are passed through. When the target is removed, the cloth is then shown to be solid and unblemished. Original cloth-lined paper case included. Height 20”. Very good. Brass plate to rear a recreation; original plate (included) loose, and accompanied by a Bamberg Magic Co. token and purple and white embossed Okito seal. Several elements expertly repaired or restored. From the Circus Museum of Sarasota collection and bearing its inventory number on the rear of the apparatus. This clever mechanical prop is likely the very example featured in the pages of Hilliard’s classic work Greater Magic (1938), wherein it is stated, “No other word than exquisite suffices to describe this piece made by Theo Bamberg (Okito). The trick is now well known but this apparatus is truly a museum piece.”