The Clown Egg Register consists of 169 clown egg portraits, photographed by
Lane Stephenson - most (but not all) have accompanying biographies of varying lengths written by
Helen Champion (herself a clown).
The Clown Egg Register (the real one) "acts as the record of copyright for the carefully designed faces of the members of
Clowns International," a British-based clowning organization. This particular organization and registry was started by Stan Bult in 1946, with the face paintings done on real blown eggshells - which of course turned out to be too fragile. Ceramic eggs are now used, and include some details of the clown's costume on the stands they are put on.
Apparently there is a
similar egg collection - for the United States, as there is an unwritten rule (not a true copyright) among clowns not to copy another's look. I'd like to see photographs that collection.
All of the photographs are excellent, all done on the same background. In most cases the eggs almost look like actual faces, although that may be due more to the skills of the original egg painter - the most lifelike seem to be done by Kate Stone.
The quality of Champion's biographies varies. Somehow I felt that I (with my genealogical research skills) probably could have dug up a little more information on each clown, including the ones that have no attached paragraphs.
It's not clear how the book is organized. I would have preferred those who had relationships mentioned in biographies (parent/child, siblings, married couples or partners) presented one after the other, but that was often not the case. I did appreciate the section at the end explaining the different clown styles -
Whiteface, Auguste, Character, and Tramp/Hobo.
© Amanda Pape - 2018
[I received this book from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. It will be donated to my local public library.]
more info here:
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20171206-the-fascinating-reason-why-clowns-paint-their-faces-on-eggs
