$1,300
Selbit, P. T. (Percy Thomas Tibbles). P.T. Selbit's Mighty Cheese. London, David Allen & Sons, ca. 1920. Three-sheet (40 x 87") color lithograph depicting a comic scene sketched by artist T.E. Stephens in which a group of audience volunteers do battle with Selbit's giant wheel of "wrestling" cheese. Very good condition. Linen backed. The "cheese" was in fact a metal object approximately 22" in diameter, painted to represent a gigantic wheel of cheese. The cheese would be rolled onto the stage and could be stopped at any point. Then several spectators were invited to the platform and told to try as hard as they could to knock the "wrestling cheese" over. No matter how hard the volunteers tried to lay the cheese down, they failed, yet the performer was able to do so by pushing it over with only one finger. For a finale, the cheese was placed into a leather harness attached to a rope. The volunteers were then invited to lift the cheese a few feet off of the stage with the rope, which had been strung over a pulley. In this position, at the magician's command the cheese exerted tremendous force and pulled back against the men, descending toward the stage of its own accord and sending the volunteers skyward, holding on to the rope for dear life.
Auctioneer:
Potter & Potter
Date:
2011-03-26
