This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/26/2022
Fairy Ball Box or Handkerchief Casket. New York: Otto Maurer, 1880s. Finely made tin box with glass sides, nickel-plated. Shown empty, in a flash a 3” ball, or a quantity of silk handkerchiefs appears inside, without cover. Ornamental corner decorations and elaborate hasp, resting on ball feet. 3 ¼ x 3 ¾ x 3 ½”. With vintage spring ball. The finest example of this prop we have ever encountered. Maurer worked from a shop located at 321 Bowery, in New York. He was an adept tinsmith and builder of standard apparatus, and supplied everything from pocket tricks to stage illusions, as well as complete juggling outfits. He was also a supplier of props to theatrical concerns and other magic dealers, among them the Martinka Brothers. Some reports suggest that it was in Maurer’s basement shop that the first exhibition of the front and back palm was given.