Potter & Potter Auctions
Live Auction

The Ricky Jay Collection

Sat, Feb 25, 2023 12:00PM EST
Lot 145

FERRY, William (b. 1868). Three Photographs of Frogman Ferr...

Estimate: $200 - $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
FERRY, William (b. 1868). Three Photographs of Frogman Ferry. N.P.: John Taylor, ca. 1930. Three full-length images of the contortionist and vaudeville star who imitated an amphibian in his highly successful vaudeville act, pictured here in full frog mask and spangle-speckled costume, contorted in various poses. 10 x 8?. One image scuffed in upper right. Ferry was perhaps the most famous ? but certainly not the only ? frog imitator of his generation. He worked in minstrel shows, vaudeville, and with his own company with an act consisting of imitating a frog in every manner, from jumping into a small pond to a pedestal, and executing contorted poses, as shown here. In 1935 he presented an interpretation of The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County for a special tribute to Mark Twain at the Waldorf-Astoria.