Black and white photograph of juggler Frank Le Dent (1886-1948) standing on stage of a Variety Theatre, presumably in London, wearing a suit, white gloves and spats and a top hat, with some of his juggling props around him, including a hat stand with top hats for his Bouncing Hats act. With an H.W. Wieland Agent's Date sheet inscribed with some of his bookings 1912 to 1918 pasted verso.

Black and white photograph of juggler Frank Le Dent (1886-1989) mounted on its original mount showing Le Dent standing on stage of a Variety Theatre, presumably in London, wearing a suit, white gloves and spats and a top hat, with some of his juggling props around him, including a hat stand with top hats for his Bouncing Hats act. With a blue paper 'Date sheet' printed by the Theatrical Agent H.W. Wieland pasted verso and inscribed with some of Le Dent's bookings 1912 to 1918 pasted verso.

Gabrielle Enthoven Collection

The Wieland Agency booking sheet pasted verso shows that in 1912 Frank Le Dent had engagements in Toronto, Hamilton, Detroit, Philadelphia, Boston, Trenton, Union Square, Newark, Young's Pier, Wilmington, Bronx, 5th Avenue, Alhambra, Greenport, Orpheum, Colonial, Brooklyn and Philadelphia from January to May 1912 before sailing to the UK from New York in May and working in Chatham, Birmingham, Glasgow, Sheffield, Manchester, Hull, Liverpool, Swansea, Hackney, Leicester, Shepherd's Bush, Middlesex, Scunthorpe, Coliseum, Edinburgh, Grimsby, Doncaster, Bolton, Plymouth, Manchester, Bolton, Plymouth, Manchester, Boscombe, Wood Green, Coliseum, Rochdale, Cardiff, Newport and Newcastle from the end of May to December 1912.

In 1913 the only dates given are for Middlesbrough, Kingston, Aldershot, Birmingham, Liverpool, Glasgow, Middlesex, Hackney, Fulham, Shepherd's Bush, Wood Green, Bristol, Leicester, Manchester, Chiswick, Chatham, the Coliseum, Edinburgh, Blackpool, Newcastle before sailing from Southampton in December for South Africa and on to Sydney in January 1914 with a tour organised (possibly) by Edgar M. Hyman (1871-1936), the South African theatrical manager and entrepreneur. In April 1914 he returned to England and performed at Middlesbrough, Sheffield, Bradford, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, Birmingham, Nottingham, Edinburgh, Middlesex, Hackney, Shepherd's Bush, Fulham, Wood Green, Bristol, Manchester, Leicester, Chiswick, Chatham, the Coliseum, Newcastle, Blackpool, and New Cross.

In 1915 dates are given for engagements in Stratford, (?) Finbury P, Newport, Swansea, Cardiff, Birmingham, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield, Bradford, Hull, Leeds, Edinburgh, the Coliseum, Middlesex, Hackney, Shepherd's Bush, Fulham, Wood Green, Bristol, Leicester, Manchester, Chiswick, Chatham, Newcastle and New Cross.

In 1916 dates are given for Stratford, (?) Finbury P., Swansea, Newport, Cardiff, Glasgow, and Edinburgh, and dates for Edinburgh are also inscribed for September 1917 and October 1918.

Since this photograph of the legendary juggler Frank Le Dent (1887-1949) was taken by the London firm Hana Studios Ltd., it was most probably taken on the stage of a London Variety Theatre. Le Dent is seen standing on stage in his costume consisting of a suit, white gloves and spats, a top hat and a flower in his buttonhole, surrounded by objects he juggled, but since there is no orchestra or audience, the shot was clearly set up specifically for the photograph. To his right there is a hat stand with five top hats that would have been part of his 'Bouncing Hats' routine, while the bust to the left of Le Dent wears another top hat.

The photograph is backed with a printed Date Sheet produced by the H.W. Wieland Agency, inscribed in ink with a selection of Le Dent's bookings from January 1912 to October 1918 including dates in Canada, The USA, the UK, Africa, and Australia.

The photograph was taken by Hana Studios in London, a business started by George Henry Hana (1868-1938) who emigrated to the United States of America as a young man where he worked in Chicago at Scholl's Studio, a business specialising in theatrical photography. He moved to New York before settling in London in 1893 and opening the Hana Studios in Bedford Street in Covent Garden in 1897.

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