A magical crowd of Ricky Jay ephemera hits the auction block
Enchanters, cheaters, hustlers, hoaxsters, jokers, postures, pretenders, sideshow showmen, armless calligraphers, mechanical marvels and popular entertainment.
These were the things that interested grizzled Ricky Jay, the smart craftsman, card shark, author, actor and scientist on all of the above, who died in 2018 at the age of 72. As he passed by, he left a large trove of rare books , posters, widths and other artifacts that honored many who came before him.
Now, nearly 2,000 of the more than 10,000 pieces that crammed his house in Beverly Hills, California, will fall into the hands of those who feel like bidding during an unusually upcoming Sotheby’s auction, after Jay’s widow, the Emmy-winning producer Chrisann Verges, turned them over.
Selby Kiffer, Sotheby’s international senior specialist in books and manuscripts, was one of two experts from the auction house to visit Verges’ home and choose what they wanted for the Ricky Jay collection.
“It really is a collection of collections,” Kiffer said ahead of the two-day live auction starting Wednesday. “The challenge was to find an institution that was not only interested in magic, but also in the circus, not only in books, but also in posters and appliances and all the elements of popular entertainment.”
Divided into 634 lots, Sotheby’s estimates the collection at $ 2.2 million to $ 3.2 million, hoping for bidders from those inside the Jays world, magical admirers at a distance and art enthusiasts on the hunt to decorate their walls. There is more than enough to choose from.
Harry Houdini is always present, a kind of commitment for any collector like Jay. Closer to Jay’s heart was the magician Max Malini from the early 20th century. A poster announces Malini’s performance at the King’s Theater in New York with a rounded portrait, medals on one lapel and performing performances for six heads of state. Dated around 1916, it is one of only two known specimens and is estimated to fetch $ 15,000 to $ 20,000.
A rare Houdini poster from around 1913 depicts the fugitive artist upside down in his water torture cell, a look of terrible concern on his face that told the story in the color lithograph worth $ 40,000 to $ 60,000.
An entire room on display at Sotheby’s spacious Manhattan headquarters is dedicated to another who attracted Jay’s attention: Matthias Buchinger. He was a German artist, magician and calligrapher born without hands or lower legs and only 29 centimeters tall. Buchinger, who died in 1740 and lived most of his life in Britain, was married four times and had at least 14 children.
Much of Buchinger’s livelihood lived in calligraphy, including his printing of family trees for money. One of Kiffer’s favorite pieces at auction is the tree Buchinger created for his own family, demonstrating his improbable skill with a pen, but also a knife or scissors for intricate paper overlays. Done in 1734, the tree is marked for sale for $ 20,000 to $ 30,000.
Jay, Kiffer said, was not just a collector who wanted all things.
“He did serious research. And I think in part because he was curious about his predecessors, he wondered what illusions and tricks they did and how they achieved them. But he preferred and published widely. He was not a trophy hunter who just said, ‘Well, I want the most expensive book on magic and the rarest, most expensive Houdini poster.’ He was looking for things that others might not recognize the meaning of, ”Kiffer explained.
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