This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/24/2024
OKITO (Tobias Bamberg, 1875 – 1963). Okito. [Floating Ball]. Marseille: Nicolitch, ca. 1920. Striking small panel-type poster bears a full-length image of Okito in costume performing his trademark feat, the Floating Ball, said to be one of the greatest mysteries in his stage show. 27 x 10”. A. Linen backed.
Though the basic Floating Ball performed by Okito was invented by an Omaha loan shark, David P. Abbott, it was a combination of the ingenuity and stubbornness inherent in Okito’s nature that transformed what was a parlor trick (quite literally) developed for Abbott’s “House of Mysteries” into a stage spectacle choreographed like a ballet performance.