Eggs on display at Wookey Hole, a theme park in Somerset by Javier Hirschfeld
The International Circus Clowns Club was formed in 1946 under Clowns International. The members met at St. James’s Church because the father of Clowning, one Joseph Grimaldi, was buried there. The club held a memorial service for Grimaldi every February.
When a fire devastated St. James’s, the club was moved to Holy Trinity Church. Over the years, clown pictures and paintings were deposited in a room behind the church. As the collection grew, so did the clown paraphernalia, expanding from pictures to gadgets and gizmos. Today, a full display of the art of Clowning is open to the public.
Clowns International contributed more to the world than a museum of memorabilia. When the organization started back in the 1940’s, Stan Bolt began re-creating his fellow clowns’ faces on blown eggs. The process requires poking small holes on either end of a egg and blowing out the contents. With an empty interior, the egg shell can then last for a long time without deteriorating.
More than 250 famous clowns have been added to the collection, the features revealing an astonishing amount of artistic talent and an impressive attention to detail.