Potter & Potter Auctions
Live Auction

Step Right Up: Circus and Sideshow Memorabilia

Thu, Sep 3, 2026 11:00AM EDT
  2026-09-03 11:00:00 2026-09-03 11:00:00 America/New_York Potter & Potter Auctions Potter & Potter Auctions : Step Right Up: Circus and Sideshow Memorabilia https://auction.potterauctions.com/auctions/potter-potter/step-right-up-circus-and-sideshow-memorabilia-23625
Featuring the collection of lifelong circus collector John Diesso, this auction includes heralds, couriers, and posters advertising the "greatest shows" of yesteryear. Photographs, route books, scrapbooks, and circus costumes will be also be offered, spanning the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A wide array of early European circus posters will be sold, along with a large library of circus books of several thousand volumes.
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Lot 210

ARCARIS, Gustavo. Four Gustavo Arcaris Knife-Thrower Cabinet Cards. Circa 1890s.

Estimate: $800 - $1,200
Current Bid
$400

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$30 $10
$100 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $200
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$20,000 $2,000
$50,000 $5,000
$100,000 $10,000

ARCARIS, Gustavo. Four Gustavo Arcaris Knife-Thrower Cabinet Cards. Buffalo: J.J. Ginther, ca. 1890s. Three portrait photographs on original studio mount of the knife thrower, Arcaris, and his female assistant with her body outlined in knives against a board. Along with a fourth photograph with a compilation of 8 images of the pair (including the three other photographs in this lot). 6 1/2 x 4 1/4".

Condition

Fading, toning, some soiling, and bumped edges. One with hole at top mid-margin and the compilation photograph with two small marginal tears, the largest measuring approximately 3/8".

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