Michael Lehr Antiques
Live Auction

June 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction

Wed, Jun 24, 2026 11:00AM EDT
Lot 485

Cabinet Card, Young Ventriloquist with Two Dummies, Richardson

Estimate: $100 - $200

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$100 $10
$200 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$20,000 $2,000
$50,000 $5,000
A young male ventriloquist, likely in his mid-teens, sits holding two full-body dummies simultaneously in this full-length cabinet card produced by H.N. Richardson of Steven's Point, Wisconsin, with the studio name printed in decorative type along the lower front mount border. The ventriloquist wears a dark double-breasted jacket with a patterned necktie and watch chain, seated on a low platform with both legs extended forward and a dummy balanced on each knee. The dummy at his left is a female figure in a floral-patterned dress with a white apron and bow in her hair, mouth open and one articulated hand raised with a pointing finger. The dummy at his right is a male figure in a dark sailor-collar jacket with disheveled reddish hair and an open hinged mouth, its head turned outward. The studio backdrop shows a decorative painted wall panel with foliate and geometric motifs at right, and a plain upper wall at left.

Portraits of young ventriloquists with two dummies are comparatively uncommon in the American cabinet card tradition, requiring the operator to control two figures simultaneously, a more advanced technical feat than the standard single-figure act and one that would have distinguished a performer on the provincial variety circuit of the 1880s and 1890s.

The reverse carries only the penciled catalog notation "DOLCEZ / 017" and no additional identification.

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