Potter & Potter to Offer Magic Collection of Ken Klosterman

Items from Ken Klosterman’s magic collection will be available in Potter & Potter Auctions’ upcoming Salon de Magie auction. The former CEO of Klosterman Baking was a professional magician known for his magic collection. A Light and Heavy Chest belonging to Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin, the founder of modern magic, is a key lot. This 1844 hardwood box has two swiveling metal clasps on the front with a matching curved handle on the lid and a diamond-shaped strike plate surrounding the keyhole. The chest comes with both the Williams stand and an unfinished model of the stand, documents related to the chest’s history, and several photographs.

Also offered is Ehrich Weisz’s 1912 portrait of Harry Houdini. Appropriately titled Houdini Upside Down in the Water Torture Cell, this poster shows an inverted Houdini submerged in a water tank before freeing himself. This trick secured Houdini’s reputation as a great escape artist during his 1911 London show. Only a handful of these posters are known to exist. The available lot appeared at the Cincinnati Art Museum from October 2001 until January 2002. View the complete Salon de Magie collection and register to bid by visiting Potter & Potter Auctions.