Potter & Potter Auctions
Live Auction

The Magic Collection of Jim Rawlins

Fri, Jan 25, 2019 10:30PM EST
Lot 206

Thornton?s Wonderful Watch Stand.

Estimate: $5,000 - $7,000

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
Thornton?s Wonderful Watch Stand. Sedona: Signature Pieces, ca. 2005. Six pocket watches are produced at the magician?s fingertips. Each is placed in a holder at the top of an elegant stand. Then, one at a time, the watches vanish from the display and cascade down the front of the stand, clacking back-and-forth, as if walking down the rungs of a ladder. They fall in to a brass top hat below the stand. For a finale, the performer reaches in to the hat and produces a ringing alarm clock. Dimensions.? Hallmarked. Original instructions. Modeled on the Watch Ladder conceived and constructed by Jesse Thornton for Abbott?s Magic in the 1940s, a prop so rare only two or three are known to exist. This model, a mechanical masterpiece, is Nick Ruggiero?s version operated mechanically (but not electronically), via a variety of coordinated mechanism concealed in the ?star? at the top of the stand and just above the glass-front ladder. One of less than 12 units manufactured.