Black Eagle. A Famous Prancing Circus Horse
A pair of cast brass flat-back ornaments retaining their original matt and burnished gilt lacquer finish.
10.25 inches wide x 2.25 inches deep x 10.75 inches high
Black Eagle was bought by the circus owners John and George Sanger from the King of the Belgians. Established in Lynn, Norfolk, in 1845, the circus toured the country during the Summer months, giving regular shows at Astley’s Amphitheatre in Westminster Bridge Road during the Winters. It grew to be one of the biggest and best of circuses being sold in 1874 to their rival, P.T. Barnum, for £33,000.
John Sanger went on to produce Equestrian Pantomimes; his daughter Lavinia performing on Black Eagle before Queen Victoria at Sandringham on several occasions.
Their enterprise was based at Margate and both brothers are buried there; John beneath a magnificent monument surmounted by a carved marble mourning horse.
John Sanger’s grand-daughter went on to become the ‘The Queen of the Elephants’. She was the last of the great Sanger circus dynasty which proudly held the title of the ‘Greatest Name in Circus’.
Item Code: 5514
£ 750
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