This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/25/2023
[TRAINED ANIMAL] Blondin the Wonder of the World. Hamburg: Adolph Friedlander, ca. 1880. Stone lithograph in bright colors advertising the remarkable trained donkey, Blondin (named after the famed tightrope walker), “trained and performed by Cottrell,” pictured here in a vignette bust portrait at the lower right. The ass balances on a teeter-totter, a chair, a moving swing, walks across a tightrope, and performs other tricks. Framed to 32 x 24 ¾”. See Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women, color plates. So wide-ranging was the fame of the original Blondin that even animal acts, such as the trained donkey advertised in this rare lithograph, capitalized on his name to help audiences understand what they could do, and draw patrons to a theater or circus tent. Displayed as part of Ricky Jay’s Extraordinary Exhibitions, Hammer Museum (Los Angeles), 2007.