Potter & Potter Auctions
Live Auction

The Ricky Jay Collection

Sat, Feb 25, 2023 12:00PM EST
Lot 50

[BLONDIN] Arsens Blondin. Paris: Affiches Americaines, Ch. ...

Estimate: $1,500 - $3,000

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
[BLONDIN] Arsens Blondin. Paris: Affiches Americaines, Ch. Levy, ca. 1882. Half-sheet color lithograph of a tightrope walker clad in an elaborate costume with feathered cap, the large central portrait showing him on the wire high above a waterway, with four smaller vignettes depicting him blindfolded, perched on one leg, with another performer on his back, and playing two trumpets while balancing on a pole, which is itself balanced on the tightrope. 22 ? x 16?. One long closed tear, margins over-colored; colors bright and fresh; B+. A poster advertising one of the many imitators of the original Charles Blondin. This gentleman crossed the Seine on a tightrope, a simulacrum of Blondin?s famed walk across Niagara Falls. In this image, a hot air balloon floats in the background behind the wire walker, along with a child pulled by a balloon, and a pig.