This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/24/2024
CHUNG Ling Soo (William E. Robinson, 1861 – 1918). Chung Ling Soo’s Smoke Vase. Circa 1910. In effect, the glass vase was covered with a cloth as the magician stood across the stage, well away from the apparatus. Wisps of smoke emanating from the performer’s mouth were blown toward the vessel which, when uncovered moments later, was seen filled with the smoke. Subtly prepared glass vase with lid stands 10” high. With Dr. Dawes’ note of provenance tracing the ownership of the vase from Soo to Professor Hoffmann, Oswald Williams, and Dick Ritson, and then to Dr. Dawes.
Further details regarding the provenance of the Smoke Vase were published in “A Rich Cabinet of Magical Curiosities” in 2008. The anthologized columns appear in Volume VI of the collected works, at page 2233.