The Equestrienne
Posted By thecircusblog on March 31, 2012
This equestrienne image is part photo. The background including horse and lady, is a photograph. While the rest is free hand art, done in ink–though it was never finished. The designer could have been making it for a poster or a program cover. It is really hard to say. All I have is what you see. There was no info with the negative.
About the author
thecircusblog
My name is Ivan M. Henry and I am the 4th generation of a circus/show business dynasty. I hope you enjoy the blog.Comments
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Hi Ivan:
I have great interest in this photo. Do you know who she is? For some time, my sister & I thought she might be our grandmother who was an equestrienne bareback rider (also some high wire) with Ringling sometime between 1905-1913. She died very young in the 1918 flu epidemic, and all photos of her were lost. But, when we found a photo similar to this one (the same woman) we liked to believe it just might be her because she looks so much like our mother. Long story short, I’ve since found through newspaper research that this woman is Josephine Clark, originally born in England to a circus family~~she was well known. She did appear with Ringling during the years my grandmother was with them, so they no doubt knew each other perhaps. I’m taking up my search for evidence of my grandparents association with Ringling again; was told a few years ago the museum in Baraboo could find nothing due to employment records having burned. In case you or someone else reading this might recognize their names, my grandfather was a coronet player in the band, Burnis (Bernie) Ivan Roop~~grandmother is Viola (went by Violet in the circus) Emma Hofer. This is my first post here; will I be notified if there is a comment, or do I need to come back and check from time to time? Thanks, love your blog!!!