This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/29/2022
KELLAR, HARRY (HEINRICH KELLAR). HARRY KELLAR’S HANDKERCHIEF PISTOL. New York: Edward Beadle, ca. 1900. Modified Starr Arms pistol with elongated barrel used to vanish a borrowed handkerchief stuffed into the end of the gun when the trigger is fired. Length 18”. Hallmarked by Beadle. Said to have been the property of Harry Kellar. According to the former owner, Jerry Furman, this pistol was left behind in an Indianapolis Theater by Kellar. Furman, as stage manager, recovered the pistol and attempted to return it to Kellar, but in the end, kept it and used it in his own performances. A note from Furman’s widow accompanies the prop. A similar Beadle-made pistol used by Kellar was in the collection of Dr. Zina Bennett of Detroit and was sold in these rooms in July of 2008. Beadle was a prop maker based in Manhattan who counted the great golden age magicians and illusionists as his customers. All props from his workshop bearing his hallmark are rarities.