{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1326139"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1326139/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2016JC2785/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2016JC2785/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2016JC2785","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O1326139/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1326139","accessionNumber":"S.163-1987","objectType":"Poster","titles":[{"title":"Colonel Stodare's Sphinx trick","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"Poster advertising Colonel Stodare's Sphinx trick, Egyptian Hall, London, 1866. The poster features an article from <i>Punch</i> magazine of 19 March 1866.\n\nThe Sphinx trick, invented and patented by Thomas William Tobin (1844-1883), was presented to the public by the ventriloquist and magician Joseph Stoddart (1831-1866) who used the stage name Colonel Stodare. The first performance took place at the Egyptian Hall on 16 October 1865. It was heralded by a carefully orchestrated publicity campaign, with mysterious announcements that 'The Sphinx has left Egypt' and 'The Sphinx has arrived and will soon appear' featuring in <i>The Times</i>. The tactic worked and the Egyptian Hall, a small venue in Piccadilly, was packed on the first night. \n\nThe three sides of the stage were concealed by curtains. Stodare entered, carrying a small box which he placed on a three legged table. The front of the box was hinged, and opened to reveal a human head wearing an Egyptian headdress, its eyes shut. Stodare waved his wand and the head opened its eyes, smiled, and, under instruction from the magician, answered questions. Eventually it went back to sleep and Stodare shut the box. When he re-opened it the head had vanished, to be replaced by a pile of ashes.\n\nThe Sphinx trick astonished London audiences and there was much debate as to how the effect was achieved. It was suggested that the head was an automaton and that Stodare was throwing his voice. The writer of the <i>Punch</i> article claims to know the secret, and relates the comical tale of his attempts to restage the trick with the aid of a truculent, and inebriated, assistant hiding beneath a table. In fact, the joke wasn't too far from the truth.  In reality, mirrors were fixed between the slender table legs and were angled so that the reflections of the curtained side walls appeared to the audience as a view of the curtain behind the table. Stodare approached the table from the front so that his legs did not appear in the mirrors. An actor, concealed by the mirrors, was able to crouch beneath the table and put his head through a trapdoor and into the box to become the Sphinx.  \n\nStodare performed the trick for Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle, but had no time to enjoy his fame. He died in Paris in 1866 following a haemorrhage of the lungs.","physicalDescription":"Poster advertising Colonel Stodare's Sphinx trick, Egyptian Hall, 1866. Headed 'Theatre of Mystery' and 'Egyptian Hall' with the Royal Coat of Arms, beneath which is the word 'Stodare' in capital letters against a dull red background, the letters with black borders to give a three-dimensional effect. The word 'Sphinx' is printed in similar lettering towards the lower edge of the poster, with, in black, the words 'A Mystery'. The poster reprints an article on the Sphinx trick which appeared in <i>Punch</i> magazine, 19 March 1866, illustrated with a black and white drawing of a male head in an Egyptian headdress, placed in an open box between two candles on a three legged table, with curtains behind. Details of times and prices are given at the lower edge. 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