This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/3/2018
Dante (Harry August Jansen). Dante’s Aerial Fishing Bowl and Stand. San Francisco: Stull Magic, ca. 1930. Gimmicked bowl used in Dante’s globetrotting illusion show allows the magician to produce as many as four live fish on a line cast over the head of the audience. With custom made stand holding the bowl and a vintage flashlight to illuminate the water and fish from below. With celluloid gimmicks and two pieces of vintage magic “fish bait.” 15” high overall. Well worn from professional use, but complete and intact. Scratched in to the rim of the bowl are three important names: “Geo White” (George White, principal assistant to Dante and Howard Thurston before him), Miki Miller (Moi-Yo Miller, Dante’s co-star and billed as “Australia’s Most Beautiful Woman”), and Logan, presumably another assistant on the show. Additionally, the words “Sim Sala Bim” (Dante’s catchphrase) and “Dante Show 1934” have been scratched in to the gimmicked metal rim. A photo Dante with the bowl can be seen in “Dante: The Devil Himself” (Temple, 1991; p. 213).