This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/17/2024
[ACROBATICS]. The Famous Polander … at Sadler’s Wells. [London], ca. 1775. Fine hand-colored etching with twenty-four vignettes of the acrobat presenting a host of incredible feats all while balanced on his head: climbing up a tight rope using a mechanical device, shooting the flames from candles with a pistol, riding on a horse with chairs balanced on his feet, disassembling a ladder while balanced atop it, and many other stunts. 13 x 19 ½”. Uniformly toned with old central fold mended at verso. A handsome and early print. According to John C. Greene in The Theatre in Belfast 1736-1800 and the Theatre in Dublin 1745- 1820, The Polander was one Sieur Potowskie, famous for a balance on an 11-foot-tall ladder who appeared in both cities in 1774.