John Gambling’s magic wand

Cambridge magician John Gambling became friendly with the much younger magician Claude Perry. John acted as a mentor for Claude, who was always very grateful and gave John credit for introducing him to many people at the annual I.B.M. British Ring Conventions. John’s wand passed to Claude, and then to David Cridland who gifted the wand to the Davenport Collection. The wand has a glass jewel at each end and can be unscrewed and folded in half, as illustrated. A label on the wand says that it was probably made by Jules Danby who was a magician active in the early 20th century. In the collection is a copy of a letter from Claude stating that the wand was John Gambling’s.