Vintage Card Rise circa 1910: rare Doc Mossey Collection

A deck of cards is carried into the audience and several cards selected and returned to the deck. The deck is shuffled.  A small table is resting on the stage with a metal houlette on top. The houlette is removed form the table and the cards inserted.  It is then placed back on the table.  One by one the chosen cards slowly rise form the pack. Incredible.

This is a wonderful vintage prop that I acquired when I purchased the Doc Mossey collection a few years back.  The mechanics are original circa 1910. This at one time had a top which in the process of acquiring the collection I either did not take or misplaced. Believe me I have looked for 4 years now.  I had the top made so it is modern.  It was perfectly crafted by Paul Lembo. The Houlette although vintage is not original to the prop either.  The base and all of the mechanics is original.   Since we were having to recreate part of it we improved it with some ingenious input from Paul we create a magnetic top which aligns the houlette perfectly.  Also makes the picking up and placing of the houlette innocent (no clips or pins to insert it into to hold the houlette in place).  It is now a perfectly functioning vintage prop.

It is thread operated from an offstage assistant. The speed can be controlled by the assistant’s pressure on the string. The card rises the magician removes the card and the assistant slowly (an quietly unlike my video) lowers the weighted apparatus back into the stand. It is ingenious.

I have seen smaller versions of this apparatus with a similar gimmick but never this stage size using a Kellar base and weighted mechanism. It is truly rare.

I shot a simple video just to show you how it operates. I was trying to operate the mechanism and take the video so it is not as smooth as it should be but you get the idea and that is all I wanted to convey.  The apparatus lowers back into the table where it is invisible even close up. Breaks down for packing. 35 inches tall.

A truly rare piece at home in any collection no matter how sophisticated.

Estimate $1200-1800