by Dr. Sarunas “Sharkey” Peckus
The evolution of this essay began several
years ago when I purchased a meerschaum cheroot holder on eBay. The motif was
four circus acrobats executing an intricate routine. The fitted case bears the
inscription ‘Emanuel Czapek, Praha - Prikopy 35, Prag - Graben 35’, one of the
most prestigious and respected nineteenth century meerschaum carvers of the
region, south-eastern Europe.
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Meerschaum cheroot holder showing an acrobatic routine involving three male and one female acrobat. |
Specifically, as the carving indicates in this complex routine, a lady acrobat is precariously positioned while holding up three male acrobats and their paraphernalia: a table and a variety of barbells. At the base of the holder is the inscription: ‘TROUPE LAFAILLE’.
What this particular act signified, and who this troupe was piqued my interest and curiosity, and I began an investigation of sources available to me.
To my excitement, Google produced the first clue, indicating that this group was a member of the [P.T.] Barnum and [James Anthony] Bailey, ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’; since 1907, Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey was listed under ‘performers and acts with circuses’ (Billboard, July 16, 1910). Hence, this was proof that this group was real, not a motif imagined or invented by the carver, and that Troupe Lafaille were professional performers affiliated with this circus renowned for its high-flying trapeze acts. As a collector and at that time, I was content with this knowledge, having gained this much information for my own purpose. Were someone to ask about it then, I could offer this titbit in response.
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Black and white German postcard (right) showing the Lafaille troop in the same acrobatic position as the cheroot holder (left). |
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Black and white English postcard including a photograph of the troop manager J. Lafaille. |
without additional details, but this second postcard made my day nonetheless.
Vier Mann hoch und auf eine zwei Meter hohen
Treppe hinauf; atemlos folgt man der Menschen pyramide. Auf lebendem Piedestal
- arbeitet mit erstaunlicher Kraft die Truppe Lafaille.
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Black and white photograph of the entire troupe accompanied by a young Belgian acrobat in the archives of the Museum of East Flanders, Gent. |
This mystery was being solved, piece- by-piece, and I sensed that with all this new, additional information in hand, I could craft a story from what I had now learned that would be stimulating reading to any inquisitive individual interested in either circus history or meerschaum iconography.
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1909 and 1910 programs for ‘THE BARNUM AND BAILEY GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH’. |
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1909 poster for Barnum and Bailey circus showing the Troupe La Faille in the center. |
The greatest pleasure in owning this poster is seeing the troupe, center stage, performing its signature routine just as it appears on the holder and on the first postcard. The poster bears the inscription:
I am now at peace. My quest for information
at this juncture is adequately sated. I may never learn the connection between
Czapek and Lafaille, but I confidently know who this troupe was and why it
received so much international attention. Given the burgeoning expansion of the
Internet, there is no doubt that more data can be found, but for the purpose of
this intellectual exercise, what I have uncovered is ample and sufficient. I
may undertake a third investigation at some later date, but at this moment, I bask
in the light of discovery, because what I have discovered, learned and
described herein is not (meerschaum) art imitating
life, but meerschaum art duplicating life
or, in this instance, lives.
There are a number of immediate questions
that can be asked. Here are some that come to mind. Why was the holder carved?
Was it a commemorative piece? If so, what was the occasion or event? Was it
commissioned and, if so, by whom? Why a carver in Prague, when many in Belgium
at the very same time were as proficient in producing finely executed
meerschaum pipes and holders? Did everyone in the troupe have one?
I have to believe that by now all the members
of this troupe have assumed their rightful place in the great acrobatic circus
tent above. Where are they buried, and might their graves be appropriately
marked for posterity as one of the greatest acrobatic teams ever may, one day,
using advanced search techniques, be known or, more likely, may never be known.
Anything is possible, and it is my sincere hope that some future reader of this
essay will have the intellectual wherewithal to assume the mantle, the
challenge, and the curiosity to take this next step. The iconographic
relationship between the holder and its history has begun, but it should not
end here.
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