Auction Catalogue
London, Clerkenwell, Joseph Askins, Jacobs’ Halfpenny, 1796, man standing with wooden leg, rev. ja cypher within wreath, the celebrated ventriloquist around, edge engrailed, 9.70g/6h (DH 251). Extremely fine with almost full original colour, very rare £300-£400
This lot was sold as part of a special collection, 18th Century Tokens from the Collection formed by the late David Barry Bailey.
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Joseph Askins (b. 1771), a one-legged potato planter from Walsall, used his peg leg for drilling holes to drop the seed potatoes in. He developed an astonishingly convincing voice-throwing technique which he would demonstrate at local shows and pageants. In 1796, word of his talents reached London and he was engaged for two weeks at Sadler's Wells Theatre, Clerkenwell, as The Man With One Leg and Two Voices. The show was a phenomenal success, and in the course of a two-year run Askins single-handedly established ventriloquism as mainstream entertainment
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