Poster
1950 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Hanging card advertising Bertram Mills' Circus, Lincoln, 1950.
The hanging card illustrates the 'Elephant Ballet', 'an amazing act by twelve girls, six of them human', perfromed in 1949-1950 Bertram Mills season. The elephants at Bertram Mills' Circus were carefully looked after. The first elephants to perform for a circus were Baba and Kiouny who were seen in Franconi's Circus in Paris in 1816. They have been part of the circus tradition ever since, and from the 1870s, troupes of elephants were being taught increasingly difficult tricks. Each elephant belonging to Bertram Mills' Circus had its own groom who slept on a camp bed in the tent with the animal. Performers recall that 'not the slightest cruelty was tolerated'. The trainers knew and understood each animal individually.
The hanging card illustrates the 'Elephant Ballet', 'an amazing act by twelve girls, six of them human', perfromed in 1949-1950 Bertram Mills season. The elephants at Bertram Mills' Circus were carefully looked after. The first elephants to perform for a circus were Baba and Kiouny who were seen in Franconi's Circus in Paris in 1816. They have been part of the circus tradition ever since, and from the 1870s, troupes of elephants were being taught increasingly difficult tricks. Each elephant belonging to Bertram Mills' Circus had its own groom who slept on a camp bed in the tent with the animal. Performers recall that 'not the slightest cruelty was tolerated'. The trainers knew and understood each animal individually.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Printed ink on card |
| Brief description | Hanging card advertising Bertram Mills' Circus, Lincoln, 1950 |
| Physical description | Pictorial and typographic circus advertisement poster. The hanging card shows the Elephant Ballet act. |
| Dimensions |
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| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | Hanging card advertising Bertram Mills' Circus, Lincoln, 1950. The hanging card illustrates the 'Elephant Ballet', 'an amazing act by twelve girls, six of them human', perfromed in 1949-1950 Bertram Mills season. The elephants at Bertram Mills' Circus were carefully looked after. The first elephants to perform for a circus were Baba and Kiouny who were seen in Franconi's Circus in Paris in 1816. They have been part of the circus tradition ever since, and from the 1870s, troupes of elephants were being taught increasingly difficult tricks. Each elephant belonging to Bertram Mills' Circus had its own groom who slept on a camp bed in the tent with the animal. Performers recall that 'not the slightest cruelty was tolerated'. The trainers knew and understood each animal individually. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.194-1994 |
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| Record created | April 30, 2014 |
| Record URL |
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