Winter Magic Auction

Omene (Nadine Osborne or Madge Hargreaves). The Mysterious Omene. New York: H.C. Miner, late 1890s. A handsome three-sheet lithograph of a woman magician adorned in jewels, standing proudly with her white magic wand in hand; two large decorative cartouches below, entitled “The Mysterious Omene. Illusio-Magiciene. Arthur G. Williams, Directeur,” the other left blank, likely to bill one of Omene’s performances. 76 x 41 ½”. Image cockled, chipping and restoration at sheet breaks with tape adhesives, restored losses, creasing and dampstaining at folds, light restoration to upper image. C. Old linen backing. Rare. Only known copy. Omene got her start as an assistant to her husband, the magician Yank-Hoe (Ercole Castignonie), until 1892 when she began her solo career as an exotic dancer and later a magician. Omene was considered America’s first practitioner of the “danse du ventre,” or belly dancing.