1908 Harry Houdini poster commands $180K and a new world auction record at Potter and Potter

1908 Harry Houdini poster showing him performing his Milk Can Escape, which hammered for $150,000 and sold for a record $180,000 with buyer’s premium at Potter & Potter.

CHICAGO – At its December 9 Select Secrets sale, Potter & Potter Auctions reclaimed the world auction record for any magic poster, tallied a total of $720,000, and enjoyed a 99.3 percent sell-through rate. Complete results for the sale are available at LiveAuctioneers.

The top lot was the new record-holder: a 1908 one sheet-color stone lithograph poster showing Harry Houdini in the process of performing his famed Milk Can Escape. It touted the feat loudly and proudly, calling it ‘Houdini’s Death-Defying Mystery’ and warning ‘Failure Means a Drowning Death.’ Estimated at $40,000-$60,000, it hammered for $150,000 and sold for $180,000 with buyer’s premium.

The sum bests a record set in October 2021 at Sotheby’s sale of the Ricky Jay Collection, which included a circa-1913-1915 poster showing a tight shot of Houdini’s grimacing face and his crooked right arm as he floated upside-down in a water tank during another of his famed escapes. It, too, was estimated at $40,000-$60,000 and sold for $151,200.

Prior to the Sotheby’s sale, Potter & Potter had claimed the world auction record with a 1912 version of the Harry Houdini water tank escape poster that shows him in full, with his feet sticking out of the top of the padlocked tank. Offered in February 2017, it sold for $95,000 ($114,000 with buyer’s premium).

The Houdini poster was not the only one on offer that turned in an impressive performance. A 1908 Howard Thurston poster showing him literally inheriting the mantle of the magician Kellar as a devil-like figure looks on, estimated at $15,000-$25,000, sold for $40,000 ($48,000 with buyer’s premium).

All seven lots of material relating to the woman magician Suzy Wandas (born Jeanne Van Dyk, 1896-1986) found new homes, with most selling above their estimates and a few within their estimates. Outpacing the rest was a lot consisting of her performing props and almost everything she used in her stage act. These included pails, holders, metal stands, a vanishing cane and an appearing cane, palming coins, multiplying billiard balls, her make-up bag and makeup, silks and flags, dummy cigarettes and gimmicked matchboxes, a breakaway fan, and playing cards. An unnamed Potter & Potter expert called the lot “a remarkable time capsule of one of the few female performers to excel as a variety artist in the twentieth century as a magician – not to mention as part of a family act, on circus, and as a musician, on two sides of the Atlantic.” Estimated at $5,000-$8,000, this Suzy Wandas lot sold for $32,000 ($38,400 with buyer’s premium).

1908 Harry Houdini poster showing him performing his Milk Can Escape, which hammered for $150,000 and sold for a record $180,000 with buyer’s premium at Potter & Potter.

1908 Harry Houdini poster showing him performing his Milk Can Escape, which hammered for $150,000 and sold for a record $180,000 with buyer’s premium at Potter & Potter.

1908 poster titled ‘Thurston, Kellar’s Successor. Invested with the Mantle of Magic,’ which sold for $40,000 ($48,000 with buyer’s premium) at Potter & Potter.

1908 poster titled ‘Thurston, Kellar’s Successor. Invested with the Mantle of Magic,’ which sold for $40,000 ($48,000 with buyer’s premium) at Potter & Potter.

Performing apparatus used by the magician Suzy Wandas, which sold for $30,000 ($38,400 with buyer’s premium) at Potter & Potter.

Performing apparatus used by the magician Suzy Wandas, which sold for $30,000 ($38,400 with buyer’s premium) at Potter & Potter.

Circa-1845 set of miniature pieces of sheet music that the magician Robert Houdin produced in his Cone of Abundance trick, which sold for $24,000 ($28,800 with buyer’s premium) at Potter & Potter.

Circa-1845 set of miniature pieces of sheet music that the magician Robert Houdin produced in his Cone of Abundance trick, which sold for $24,000 ($28,800 with buyer’s premium) at Potter & Potter.

Sheila Gibson Stoodley

Sheila Gibson Stoodley

Sheila Gibson Stoodley is the associate editor for Auction Central News. She has written and edited for Robb Report, Art & Antiques magazine, and Andrew Harper online. She also authored The Hot Bid, a blog devoted to intriguing and delightful lots coming up at auction.

Potter & Potter conjures amazing results for its Vintage & Modern Magic sale

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CHICAGO — Magical numbers were achieved in Potter & Potter’s Vintage & Modern Magic sale on August 26, with Harry Houdini, posters from the Golden Age of stage magic and a David Copperfield television-used prop all selling above their estimates. The auction was featured on LiveAuctioneers.

As anticipated, a 1904 theatrical contract between an English theater and Harry Houdini (birth name Erich Weisz), hand-signed by the magician, soared well above its $3,000-$5,000 estimate to land at $12,000 ($15,000 with buyer’s premium). This result continues the trend for strong showings by Houdiniana in the contemporary market.

A Houdini-signed two-volume set of 1859’s Memoirs of Robert-Houdin, written by Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, who is considered the father of modern magic, reached $26,000 ($32,500 with buyer’s premium) against an estimate of $6,000-$8,000. Houdini personally inscribed the book to his friend Bernard M.L. Ernst in 1922, and it features additional notations by the magician.

A 1909 promotional poster for ‘Thurston, the world’s greatest magician‘ topped the sale at $36,000 ($45,000 with buyer’s premium). The colorful linen-backed lithograph is one of only a handful known.

A television-used interactive illusion from The Magic of David Copperfield XIV, a 1992 special that aired on CBS, astounded the floor by hammering at $32,000 ($40,000 with buyer’s premium), against an estimate of only $1,000-$2,000. A sheet of glass with 12 recognizable symbols, the custom-made prop was used by Copperfield for an interactive mind-reading effect performed through the television screen for millions of at-home viewers. The item is one of only two Copperfield props ever sold to the public, with the blessing of his organization.
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1909 ‘Thurston the World’s Greatest Magician’ poster, sold for $$36,000 ($45,000 with buyer’s premium) at Potter & Potter.
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1859 two-volume ‘Memoirs of Robert-Houdin’ by Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, given and signed by Harry Houdini, sold for $26,000 ($32,500 with buyer’s premium) at Potter & Potter.
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Contract for Houdini’s Christmastime engagements in England from December 26 – 31, 1904, signed by the magician, sold for $12,000 ($15,000 with buyer’s premium) at Potter & Potter.
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Interactive illusion from the 1992 television special ‘The Magic of David Copperfield XIV,’ sold for $32,000 ($40,000 with buyer’s premium) at Potter & Potter.
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Potter & Potter to conjure Summer Magic with June 17 sale

Butterfly silk production magic apparatus by Jon Martin, dating to 1933, estimated at $4,000-$8,000
Butterfly silk production magic apparatus by Jon Martin, dating to 1933, estimated at $4,000-$8,000
Butterfly silk production magic apparatus by Jon Martin, dating to 1933, estimated at $4,000-$8,000

CHICAGO – Potter & Potter Auctions will conduct a 560+ lot Summer Magic Auction on Saturday, June 17 starting at 10 am Central time. It will feature antique to contemporary magic apparatus, important posters, ephemera and research archives as well as selections from the collections of Jim Deloach, William Trotter, and Ken Klosterman’s Salon de Magie library. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

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Potter & Potter to conjure 500+ lots of pure magic, July 16

Circa-1947 Okito Checker Cabinet by Theo Bamberg, est. $10,000-$15,000
Circa-1947 Okito Checker Cabinet by Theo Bamberg, est. $10,000-$15,000
Circa-1947 Okito Checker Cabinet by Theo Bamberg, est. $10,000-$15,000

CHICAGO – Potter & Potter Auctions‘ Saturday, July 16 sale, The Collection of Jim DeLoach, will feature a fine selection of antique to modern magic apparatus, posters, books and artwork. The auction, containing 531 lots, will start at 10 am Central time. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

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Klosterman magic collection part 2 totals $815K at Potter & Potter

Johann N. Hofzinser’s circa-1860 crystal ball casket, $36,000
Johann N. Hofzinser’s circa-1860 crystal ball casket, $36,000
Johann N. Hofzinser’s circa-1860 crystal ball casket, $36,000

CHICAGO – Salon de Magie: Klosterman Collection Part 2, a sale held at Potter & Potter Auctions on March 26, was thrilling from start to finish, totaling $815,000 and achieving a sell-through rate of nearly 100%.

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Houdini’s Bible used in magic act hits six figures at Potter & Potter

Harry Houdini’s Bible, $102,000
Harry Houdini’s Bible, $102,000
Harry Houdini’s Bible, $102,000

CHICAGO – Potter & Potter Auctions‘ December 11 magic sale, featuring the Bob Rossi collection of materials related to Joseph Dunninger, delivered fine results from start to finish. When the hammer finally fell silent after a long day of energized bidding, 54 lots made $1,000-$2,499; 34 lots realized $2,500-$9,999; three lots sold for $10,000-$20,000; and one lot broke the six-figure mark.

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Potter & Potter conjures stunning Winter Magic Auction Dec. 11

‘The Great Brindamour. Magician,’ circa-1903 color lithograph poster, est. $6,000-$8,000
‘The Great Brindamour. Magician,’ circa-1903 color lithograph poster, est. $6,000-$8,000
‘The Great Brindamour. Magician,’ circa-1903 color lithograph poster, est. $6,000-$8,000

CHICAGO – Potter & Potter Auctions is pleased to announce a 450-lot sale to be held on Saturday, December 11 starting at 10 am Central time. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

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Robert-Houdin prop could sell for $100K at Potter & Potter Oct. 30

Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin’s Light and Heavy Chest, est. $50,000-$100,000
Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin’s Light and Heavy Chest, est. $50,000-$100,000
Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin’s Light and Heavy Chest, est. $50,000-$100,000

CHICAGO – Potter & Potter Auctions will hold a 365-lot sale on Saturday, October 30 starting at 10 am Central time, the first from the Salon de Magie, Ken Klosterman’s famous collection of magic apparatus, books and ephemera. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

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