This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/30/2022
[WATER SPOUTER] After HOLLAR, Wenceslaus (1607 – 1677). De Manfre the Water Spouter. Circa 1800. Fine engraved portrait of this famous and unusual performer, a vignette of his act in progress the background, with fountains of fluid emanating from his mouth. Two columns of Latin verse reproduced below the likeness. Gilt wooden frame, 11 ¾ x 8 ¾”. An early example of this classic portrait of De Manfre. Not examined out of frame. De Manfre made famous an act in which, after drinking prodigious quantities of water, he reproduced them in steady fountain-like streams from his mouth, filling numerous vessels on the stage with the liquid, and also transforming it from water into wine, beer, oil, and milk on command. He died in 1651.