Potter & Potter’s October Magic Auction Features Robert-Houdin’s Glass Column Mystery Clock and Dr. Hofzinser’s Any-Card Box

Long before Harry Houdini had everyone under his spell, there was Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin. He was a French watchmaker, magician, and illusionist, the father of the modern style of conjuring who inspired the American Houdini. The upcoming Salon De Magie; The Collection of Ken Klosterman Part III auction, presented by Potter & Potter Auctions, starts with a Robert-Houdin glass column mystery clock. It is an iconic clock from the inventive mind of the most prominent magician of the 19th century. These clocks were instant successes when they were first introduced in the late 1830s. The available mystery clock was made by Robert-Houdin in 1850 in Paris. The clock has two mysteries – a glass clock face and a glass tube supporting the face. It is five inches in diameter with a round brass bezel, to which a single arrow-shaped ormolu hand is attached. The numbers are Roman numerals painted in reverse. The clock stands on a clear glass tube with an ebonized wooden base and four feet.

The magic of the auction continues with a Hofzinser any-card called for card rising box. Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser (1806 – 1875) was an Austrian-Hungarian magician and illusionist known by his stage name Dr. Hofzinser. The available leather-covered brass case tooled in gilt is the one designed by Hofzinser. He would place a pack of piquet cards inside this box before calling a spectator on stage to name any card in the pack. Then the called card would rise from the slot to the top of the box. The case contains a complex clockwork device that creates the effect. This is a rare piece, one of only two manufactured by Charles Kalish in 1976. Find the listed items and more on Potter & Potter Auctions, and register to place a bid.