Herbert J. Collings
(1883-1958), Magician and co-founder of the Magic CircleSitter in 1 portrait
by Walter Stoneman
half-plate glass negative, September 1944
NPG x169614
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Aedan Garcia
28 July 2019, 03:33
There is some information that could be added to help the viewer better understand the portrait. Mr. Collings was a practitioner of what was called ''oriental magic'' and had performed such acts 10 000 times by 1956, his stage name was Col Ling Soo which is why he is dressed in imperial Chinese attire. He was also a collector of Chinese imperial robes and artifacts, by 1956 he had amassed a collection worth 1000$ pounds. With regards to family relationships, he married a pianist named Hilda Bertram on April 26 1923 I could not find dates for her life however.
Note on sources
Smilestones is a autobiography that goes up to 1946.
http://www.davenportcollection.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Smilestones-v2.pdf page 21 page 31 - www.britishpathe.com/video/chinese-dresses - www.sheetmusicwarehouse.co.uk/female-composers/gems-song-in-key-of-a-with-piano-accompaniment/
Jeremy Tarling
19 May 2021, 19:58
Collings donated a complete deck of tarot carts drawn by Austin Osman Spare to the Magic Circle Museum.