The history of the ball and vase

The ball and vase is a small lidded vase with a ball that vanishes, comes back or changes colour. Based on our research, the earliest mention we’ve found is in Professor Hoffmann’s Modern Magic (1876), which describes Morison’s pill-box and the red-and-black-ball vases. Museum and collection records show it as a ready-made trick by 1893 and made in wood and plastic through the 20th century.

The ball and vase is a well-known prop, but little has been written about its history. Most of what survives is in old books and collection records, so this post sticks to what we could actually check.

What is the ball and vase?

It is a small vase, often made of wood, with a lid and a ball that sits inside. In the version the Davenport Collection describes, the magician takes the ball out, puts the lid back on and makes the ball vanish. When the lid comes off again, the ball is back in the vase.

The same prop does more than that. One vase in the Davenport Collection is used to change a red ball into a blue one under the lid. A ball vase we sell is described as making the ball vanish and turn up in the magician’s pocket. Another is described as handling “vanishes, appearances and transformations”.

Where does the ball and vase come from?

Based on our research, the earliest mention we’ve found is in Professor Hoffmann’s Modern Magic (1876). Its chapter on ball tricks requiring special apparatus includes “The Red-and-Black-Ball Vases” and “Morison’s Pill-box” (pp. 296 and 298 in the edition we checked).

The second name turns up again decades later. The Davenport Collection holds a ball vase catalogued as “Morison’s pill-box”, probably early 20th century, which once belonged to the Cambridge magician Claude Perry. None of the sources we read explains where the name comes from, so we won’t guess.

We haven’t found an earlier written source. If the trick is older than 1876, the evidence we’ve seen doesn’t show it.

How did the prop change over time?

By 1893 it existed as a ready-made trick. A Penn Museum record lists “The Enchanted Ball and Mystic Vase”, an American trick with instructions, deposited in 1893 by R. Stewart Culin.

Collections show the prop carrying on through the next century. The Davenport Collection dates one red-to-blue vase to the 1920s or 1930s, has wooden ball vases from the first half of the 20th century and a bright yellow plastic one from the mid-20th century.

Today you can still buy one in hardwood. The Merlins Premier Range vase we sell is hand-turned in the UK from a single piece of hardwood, about 4½ inches high, with a handmade wooden ball.

Why won’t we explain how it works?

We sell ball vases, and we never give away the secret of a product we sell. If you want to read how the Victorian versions worked, Hoffmann explains them in Modern Magic, which you can download free from us.

Why is it still worth learning?

The ball and vase is small and self-contained, and one prop gives you a vanish, a reappearance and a colour change. The red Ball Vase & Silk we sell is described as working on its own or as part of a bag routine.

What helps you take it further?

• Deluxe Wooden Ball Vase (Merlins Premier Range) is made in the UK from a single piece of hardwood, about 4½ inches high, with a handmade wooden ball, for vanishes, appearances and transformations.
• Ball Vase & Silk (Red) by Premium Magic is a red wooden vase whose ball vanishes and ends up in the magician’s pocket.
• Modern Magic by Professor Hoffmann (1876) is a free 594-page PDF that includes ball tricks with special apparatus, among them Morison’s pill-box.

Browse our parlour and stand-up collection, and read the history of the cups and balls and who was Robert-Houdin.

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