Poster advertising Cirque Knie
Poster
ca.1940 (printed)
ca.1940 (printed)
This dramatic poster for Cirque Knie would have been used for its tours. With only the name of the circus printed, details of venues and dates where the circus was appearing would have been overposted.
The history of the Swiss Knie family circus began with the Austrian itinerant performer Friedrich Knie (1784-1850) and his wife Antonia Stauffer. The second generation of the family toured the show, the Knie Arena in Germany and Switzerland as well as Austria in the early 19th century, performing in Switzerland for the first time in 1828. Switzerland eventually became their home, and in June 1919 Friedrich and Rudolf Knie opened their Cirque Variété National Suisse Frères Knie in Bern. In 1934 Circus Knie became a limited company, Schweizer National-Circus Gebrüder Knie. After the war and the death of Friedrich Knie in 1941 his sons Frédy and Rolf toured the circus in Switzerland while some of its animal acts went on engagements during the winter season to major European venues including the Cique Medrano in Paris, the Circus Carré in Amsterdam, and Bertram Mills Circus in London. It is because of this link with Bertram Mills that Mills may have acquired this poster.
The history of the Swiss Knie family circus began with the Austrian itinerant performer Friedrich Knie (1784-1850) and his wife Antonia Stauffer. The second generation of the family toured the show, the Knie Arena in Germany and Switzerland as well as Austria in the early 19th century, performing in Switzerland for the first time in 1828. Switzerland eventually became their home, and in June 1919 Friedrich and Rudolf Knie opened their Cirque Variété National Suisse Frères Knie in Bern. In 1934 Circus Knie became a limited company, Schweizer National-Circus Gebrüder Knie. After the war and the death of Friedrich Knie in 1941 his sons Frédy and Rolf toured the circus in Switzerland while some of its animal acts went on engagements during the winter season to major European venues including the Cique Medrano in Paris, the Circus Carré in Amsterdam, and Bertram Mills Circus in London. It is because of this link with Bertram Mills that Mills may have acquired this poster.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Poster advertising Cirque Knie (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Printing ink on paper |
| Brief description | Poster advertising Cirque Knie, blank for overprinting venue and dates of performance. Colour lithgraph |
| Physical description | Typographical and pictorial poster advertising Cirque Knie, with black and white lettering on a pink and yellow background, illustrated with images of four parading elephants and a roaring hippopotamus |
| Credit line | Given by the Norfolk Rural Life Museum |
| Object history | This poster was part of a collection of circus and theatre posters and ephemera collected by John Bates and given to the Norfolk Rural Life Museum by his widow. As the collection fell outside its collecting remit, the Rural Life Museum gave it to the V&A Theatre Museum. |
| Summary | This dramatic poster for Cirque Knie would have been used for its tours. With only the name of the circus printed, details of venues and dates where the circus was appearing would have been overposted. The history of the Swiss Knie family circus began with the Austrian itinerant performer Friedrich Knie (1784-1850) and his wife Antonia Stauffer. The second generation of the family toured the show, the Knie Arena in Germany and Switzerland as well as Austria in the early 19th century, performing in Switzerland for the first time in 1828. Switzerland eventually became their home, and in June 1919 Friedrich and Rudolf Knie opened their Cirque Variété National Suisse Frères Knie in Bern. In 1934 Circus Knie became a limited company, Schweizer National-Circus Gebrüder Knie. After the war and the death of Friedrich Knie in 1941 his sons Frédy and Rolf toured the circus in Switzerland while some of its animal acts went on engagements during the winter season to major European venues including the Cique Medrano in Paris, the Circus Carré in Amsterdam, and Bertram Mills Circus in London. It is because of this link with Bertram Mills that Mills may have acquired this poster. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.718-1984 |
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| Record created | April 12, 2021 |
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