Monday, June 22, 2026

Weekend Potter auction was a wild one!

On Saturday, Potter & Potter held their Magicana of the Golden Age auction. There were many outstanding Houdini lots, and the prices certainly reflected this! For me, the gem was this original cabinet portrait from 1898. This appeared in Escaping Obscurity: The Travel Diary of Harry Houdini 1897-1899 and was used to create Houdini's famed King of Cards poster. The estimate was 5K-7K, but it sold for a stunning of $45,600 (including buyer's premium).


This photo had belonged to Dr. Timothy Moore. In November, Dr. Moore sold his entire collection to the new Chicago-based magic venue, The Hand & The Eye. I recognized that many of the Houdini lots came from the Moore collection. I'm not sure how many non-Houdini lots came from the collection, nor do I know if there are still plans for a magic museum at the venue, as was promised. But this auction certainly felt like a very well-curated collection.

Congrats to the winners.

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