Potter & Potter Auctions
Live Auction

Salon de Magie: The Klosterman Collection Part I

Sat, Oct 30, 2021 12:00PM EDT
Lot 118

Keene, Lamar. Lamar Keene?s Carved S?ance Chair. Carved ant...

Estimate: $800 - $1,500

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
Keene, Lamar. Lamar Keene?s Carved S?ance Chair. Carved antique hardwood armchair with tapestry-like back and seat finished in fringe, used by fraudulent spirit medium Lamar Keene as the chair in his s?ances. With a note of provenance in the hand of Keene?s secretary. Height 52". Well-worn fabric, especially at the seat, but intact. As pictured on the rear jacket of Keene?s well-known work on his career as a fraudulent medium, The Psychic Mafia. Known by his peers as ?The Prince of Spiritualists,? Morris Lamar Keene (1936 ? 1996) practiced mediumship in Tampa, Florida and at Camp Chesterfield in central Indiana, crudely applying conjuring techniques in the s?ance rooms to apparently contact the dead. The publication of his expos? of the underworld of fake mediumship has become a well-known text in the field since its original release in 1976. After leaving spiritualism, Keene became successful in other business pursuits, but escaped at least two attempts on his life by what may have been disgruntled former spiritualist colleagues.