NEW YORK — The August 7 Vintage Posters sale at Swann Galleries, a summer staple of the New York City auction house, was dominated by three large early 20th-century magic posters, each hammering for $22,000 ($28,600 with buyer’s premium). Issued by Stafford and Co. of Netherfield, Nottingham, England, each referenced an act by the revered English illusionists John Nevil Maskelyne (1839-1917) and David Devant (1868-1941).
Among Devant’s signature routines was The Mystic Kettle – his version of the trick known as Any Drink Called For – which produced, on demand, any beverage requested by the audience. In his autobiography, Devant remarked: “With this innocent-looking receptacle I could supply my audience with any drink they wished, from water to creme de menthe.” The device was made for him by his prop-maker Henry Bate.
The two-sheet black and white poster David Devant and his Mystic Kettle, measuring just shy of five feet high, dated from circa 1900, when Devant was a member of the famous Maskelyne & Cooke company and was performing regularly at the Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly, London. It was estimated at $5,000-$7,000 and, like the others, was condition-graded B-plus, having received expert restoration and repair.
After Maskelyne renovated, expanded, and reopened the St. George’s Hall theater in London as England’s New Home of Mystery in 1905, he and Devant developed a lucrative 10-year partnership. Two shows were held daily at the venue at 3 pm and 8 pm. In his autobiography My Magic Life, Devant called the theater “the veritable headquarters of the conjurer’s art”.
Devant, born in the Holloway area of North London as David Wighton, was the talk of London at the time, as referenced in a three-sheet 7ft 4in full color poster showing a masked assistant appearing to vanish in smoke with the name David Devant picked out in lights. Signed by the well-known but enigmatic poster designer Val Prince, it had an estimate of $7,000-$10,000.
The third element in this desirable trio was a three-sheet poster titled Maskelyne and Devant’s Mysteries, The Mascot Moth. Devant considered this illusion, which he said had come to him in a dream, to be his masterpiece. Stretching out his arms, the magician gradually made a large butterfly with the head of a woman appear in space. Just as a candle flame was about to consume her wings, the butterfly folded them over her face and vanished in smoke.
This spectacular effect was premiered at St. George’s Hall on August 5, 1905, with this poster (the designer is unknown) dated to around this time.
