Messaggio d’errore

La pagina richiesta non può essere recuperata. Prova di nuovo

Ringmasters – the most famous people in circus history

From the first human cannonball to Queen Victoria’s famed lion tamer, we bring you the best in the business

Il Natale Penhaligon's

 

The history of the circus has more characters than a Shakespeare play. Some were good, some were bad, many were almost completely bonkers. Then again, it’s hardly surprising the circus attracts eccentrics – just think of those ringmaster uniforms, flying cannonballs, not to mention the contortion artists who could seemingly fold themselves up into a shoebox. Of course, circuses were not all sweetness and light, one only needs to think of the more egregious examples of animal cruelty and the disgusting unkindness of the freak show. But that said, there was good too. We bring you Penhaligon’s guide to the greats of the circus.

TO THE FUNFAIR

Isaac Van Amburgh

Queen Victoria’s favourite lion tamer, New York-born Isaac Van Amburgh, visited England in 1838 drawing in the roaring crowds to Philip Astley’s Amphitheatre. Amburgh – usually dressed in the rig of a roman centurion – and his lions were so popular with Queen Victoria that she visited seven times in six weeks – and even loitered around afterwards to watch them being fed. “You can never see it too often,” she said in her journal.

Rossa Matilda Richter

 

In 1877 at just seventeen years old, Rosa Matilda Richter, known as Zazel,  clambered into a spring-loaded cannon and was shot into the air across a crowd of gathered spectators at the Royal Aquarium and landed in a suspended net. So it was that the first human cannonball was born. Her career ended tragically in 1891 when a circus pole fell on her back in New Mexico during a routine. She survived but would never fly through the air again.

Philip Astley

During the Seven Years War in the mid-1700s Astley became known as a master equestrian, and when he returned from the front, he opened a riding school in 1768. His specialty was showing off riding tricks to his pupils. It was here he thought up the idea that would see him called “the father of the circus”. Astley would open the first circus in France in 1782 – Amphitheatre Anglais – and even performed in front of Marie-Antoinette at Versailles. At 6ft tall, with a booming voice, he was so successful he would go on to have not just one circus, but nineteen all around Europe.

 

Nell Gifford

Nell Gifford – the daughter of TV producer and director Rick Stroud – ran away to the circus at 18, before returning to study English at New College Oxford. She would become one of the undoubted greats of the modern circus. Her great strength was her enormous imagination and her talent for finding the best acts arounds. She brought together such diverse acts as Tweedy the clown; Attila the Hungarian horseman from the Great Hungarian Plain; Ethiopian jugglers Bibi and Bichu; and even a team of jockeys that flipped from horse to horse. For many of its fans it is the highlight of the summer calendar as the circus pulls up at commons and village greens. Each year there is a new theme, including Xanadu, The Hooley, and one themed all around the Greek gods. Nell died in 2019, aged 46, from cancer – but the circus life continues.

 

Annie Oakley

Annie Oakley was an American sharpshooter born in 1860 in rural Ohio. She was only eight years old when she made her first shot – the head of a squirrel at the bottom of her garden – and would feed her impoverished family by hunting them. She made her name in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, though she was originally turned down because he already had a marksman with an expert eye. In 1884 a steamboat shepherding the shows performers sank on the Mississippi and the firearms were ruined. When the marksman quit, Buffalo Bill contacted Annie Oakley, and the rest is history. She toured across Europe along with her husband Frank Butler – one act saw her shoot a cigar from between his lips.

Il Natale Penhaligon's
SHOP THE GIFT GUIDE
PORTRAITS LORD GEORGE EDP 75ML VA

THE TRAGEDY OF LORD GEORGE

Ricco, nobile, ingannevole. Come il nostro patriarca, questo profumo legnoso custodisce alcuni segreti.

£235
PORTRAITS DUCHESS ROSE EDP 75ML VA

The Coveted Duchess Rose

Una rosa dal profumo dolcissimo, pronta per essere colta. Non così innocente come si pensa.

£235

Continua a leggere

Ah, Halfeti: il gioiello nella corona della Turchia. Con il suo meraviglioso mix di antico fascino bizantino, armeno, egiziano e ottomano, E città rinomata per i suoi scambi commerciali con il resto del mondo. Spezie e altri preziosi…

Leggi questo articolo

Va da sé che in Penhaligon’s abbiamo un debole per una buona tazza di tè. Ma come è iniziata l’ossessione britannica per il tè? Abbiamo invitato la fondatrice della Rare Tea Company, Henrietta Lovell...

Leggi questo articolo

Proprio come gli animali selvatici marcano il proprio territorio, il profumo di una persona estende il suo spazio personale. In effetti, i profumi emanano un sentore diverso a seconda di chi li indossa, quindi bisogna scegliere una fragranza che...

Leggi questo articolo

Sono passati alcuni anni da quando la rinomata collezione Portraits ha conquistato un posto di primo piano nei negozi Penhaligon’s di tutto il mondo. La collezione di fragranze Portraits continua a crescere per offrire sempre qualcosa di nuovo e di diverso...

Leggi questo articolo

A chi non è mai capitato di fermarsi a odorare il profumo di una rosa fresca e di sentirsi immediatamente sollevato? Non è affatto una coincidenza. È scientificamente provato che i profumi floreali donano una sensazione di gioia. Una fragranza può…

Leggi questo articolo

Un odore inebriante appena si entra. Cura e attenzione impareggiabili da parte di esperti di fragranze. Ogni nostra boutique ha i suoi tratti distintivi, ma non c’è niente che sia più distintamente Penhaligon’s della nostra icona...

Leggi questo articolo

Ai tempi di William, ogni dandy londinese degno di nota poteva trovarsi a girovagare tra Jermyn Street e St. James’s Street. Qui, era possibile soddisfare ogni esigenza sartoriale e di cura di un gentiluomo...

Leggi questo articolo

Gli angoli più romantici di Londra: Approvato da Penhaligon’s: “Amante non sia chi coraggio non ha” (anche per le signore). Questo San Valentino, è il momento di farsi coraggio e portare la tua dolce metà in gita...

Leggi questo articolo

Che infamia sarebbe omettere il racconto di una tale storia. La storia del Principe della profumeria. Chiamalo William Penhaligon. Si è imbarcato in una serie di pellegrinaggi. Alcuni coinvolsero…

Leggi questo articolo

Penhaligon’s è orgoglioso di presentare THE FAVOURITE. Il palco è pronto, lo scenario è Blenheim. La storia riguarda l’essenza di questo maestoso palazzo. Il suo profumo riempie i quartieri reali come…

Leggi questo articolo