From its completion in 1812 at a cost of £16,000 until its demolition in 1905, The Egyptian Halls, situated at 170-173 Piccadilly, just opposite the famous Burlington Arcade was home to some of the finest magicians in history, not only from these shores but also from abroad.

On the site now is an office block, ‘Egyptian House’ and on a recent visit I discovered that in the foyer of this building is a framed drawing of the original theatre, underneath which is a plaque presented by The Magic Circle in 1995

The plaque states:

The Egyptian Hall

Maskelyne and Cooke’s Home of Mysteries

1873 – 1904

In a Theatre on this site appeared

some of the greatest British and

Overseas Magicians, including John Nevil

Maskelyne – father of British Magic

and his partner David Devant

Presented by

The Magic Circle

September 1985

Some of the original chairs from the front row of the theatre are housed in the Devant Room and Museum at The Magic Circle headquarters in London

Following up on an article I read, today I went in search of something else which has also survived the one hundred years plus since the building was demolished. Tucked away in the underground car park underneath the Museum of London, are the two statues which formed the centrepiece of the Egyptian Hall facade (see photo above)

You can appreciate the size of these statues, by comparing them to the size of the lift doors which themselves are over 6′ 6” high. Whilst it is great to see that these iconic statues remain, it is somewhat unfortunate that they are hidden away either side of the goods lift in an underground car park with no pedestrian access. Equally, should someone be lucky enough to come across these by accident, there unfortunately, is no sign to tell you what the statues are or where they came from.