Boxing clowns

July 31st, 2012 by Kathy Hackett

Continuing with the boxing theme, this photograph, from the Jandaschewsky collection, shows Guillaume Jandaschewsky and Orlando ‘Averino’, part of the Do-Re-Mi trio, performing their boxing clown act with bells. During this act, two clowns would box, each blow producing a different noise. The act has been copied by numerous other Australian clown troupes since then. The Do-Re-Mi clowns differed from many other clown acts because they dressed and made up identically and, rather than relying on conflicts and interactions between different types of clowns, used props and musical instruments for comedic effect.

This photograph was produced by Talma studios in Melbourne. Talma, established in 1895, was one of a number of studios in Sydney and Melbourne whose success was dependent upon the commercial portrait trade. The studio was run by Andrew Barrie with Sir Henry Weedon, Melbourne’s Lord Mayor, as his partner. Talma studios produced thousands of theatrical portraits in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, catering to a growing demand for photographs of performers, royalty and other celebrities. The performance elements of a theatrical production could be more easily staged in a studio than captured live and the portability of photographs and made them popular as both gifts and mementoes.

References:

Circus! The Jandaschewsky Story, Powerhouse Publishing, Sydney, 1995.

Anne-Marie Willis, Picturing Australia: a history of photography, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1988

Post by Kathy Hackett, Photo Librarian

Photography by Talma Studios

No known copyright restrictions

Tags: bells, boxing, circus performers, clowns

The Powerhouse Museum's Photo of the Day blog features a new image each day, chosen from the Powerhouse Photo Library.

The majority of these images have been taken by Museum photographers for a variety of purposes such as for exhibitions, of objects in our collection, events, behind-the-scenes and location shots. We also feature many images taken by our Flickr community and from our visitors. We hope you enjoy the photographs and stories.

The licensing of each image varies however we are trying to release as many as possible under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.1 license.