A Collection of Robert Fossett's Circus Ephemera and Performance Photographs

This collection of mid-20th-century British circus ephemera and photographs pertains primarily to Robert Fossett’s Circus and associated acts. The group includes a colourful souvenir programme featuring a black panther jumping through a hoop on the cover, with text reading Robert Fossett’s The Original English Circus, Souvenir Programme, and The Exciting Story of England’s Oldest Circus Years of Sawdust and Spangles. Also present is a monochromatic promotional card for the Yong Sisters & Brothers acrobatic troupe, illustrating several balancing acts. This card includes a handwritten ink inscription in the lower section: To Mr Kirby with all best wishes and lots of luck from the Yong Sisters & Brothers. The collection further contains 19 black and white silver gelatin prints of varying sizes. These photographs depict a range of circus acts in performance, including equestrian displays with horses in ornate harnesses, acrobatic balancing acts featuring a three-person vertical stack, and animal training sequences with a ringmaster in formal attire directing a group of dogs. Several prints illustrate bicycle-based games, possibly cycle basketball or polo, performed in a ring with a visible scoreboard. Other subjects include clown performances, aerial and trapeze acts, and interior views of circus rings and audiences in both tented and permanent arena settings.

Dimensions: Varying sizes, approximately 25cm x 20cm and smaller.