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.

According to Potter & Potter, the auction brought in $1.17 million, making it one of the highest-grossing magic auctions of all time.

Congrats to everyone.
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8 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 22, 2026 at 11:41 AM

    Wow that’s incredible, the prices people will pay for Houdini.
    Not a bad business to be in 20% of 1.17 million plus up front $.
    I just had to laugh but I knew it would be a record breaker.
    Also the Chicago museum just lost all of its original magic memorabilia.
    It’s going to hard for them to beat this sale in October with Connelly collection, but we will see. Might have to join them and take the money now while he’s hot?

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    1. AnonymousJune 22, 2026 at 2:47 PM

      The price I pay… my heart… even if it’s broken. 🫪😭💗 - Abby Martin

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    2. John CoxJune 22, 2026 at 5:24 PM

      Gabe has built a great business and deserves every bit of his success. I think it will be a while before we see a single auction reach these heights. It wasn't just the Houdini lots that were very high quality. Many incredible other items from other magicians.

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  2. AnonymousJune 22, 2026 at 7:19 PM

    Incorrect. We believe the highest grossing auction to be the Ricky Jay event held by Sothbey's in 2021 over 3.5 million. Followed by the 2011 Milbourne Christopher Auction with half the lots at over a million dollars. Laura.

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    1. John CoxJune 22, 2026 at 7:40 PM

      Thanks Laura. To be fair, Potter said "one of the highest", not that it was THE highest. That Ricky Jay auction was something!

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  3. AnonymousJune 22, 2026 at 7:22 PM

    235+ lots were from Dr. Moore collection. Wonder why not one word in catalog mentioned his name. Wasn't this to go to the venue in Chicago as a museum. ummm that was a bait and switch job.

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    1. John CoxJune 22, 2026 at 7:30 PM

      I believe it did go to The Hand & The Eye. It was likely they who consigned it. I sent them an email asking if they still had plans to create a magic museum, if just a small one. Or did they consign it all? I'll let you know what I hear back.

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    2. AnonymousJune 23, 2026 at 4:29 AM

      I also wonder why not mention Dr Moore, it seems like that could
      have increased the auction. Ricky Jays was a two day event,
      I remember I didn’t win one item "…

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