This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/17/2024
CRUIKSHANK, George (1792 – 1878), after. The Pig Faced Lady of Manchester Square. The Spanish Mule of Madrid. [London]: H. Humphrey, March 21, 1815. Attractively hand-colored engraving of two images side-by-side; the first shows the porcine-visaged woman at a pianoforte, with a veil over her face. The second pictures a “wonderful monster” (a man with the face of a mule) “caught by Buonaparte.” Laid down. See BM Satires 12508A.Below the pig faced lady is a description of her condition: “This extraordinary female is about 18 years of age – of high rank & great fortune. Her body & limbs are of the most perfect & beautiful shape, but her head & face resembles that of a pig – she eats her victuals out of a silver trough in the same manner as pigs do, & when spoken to she can only answer by grunting. Her chief amusement is the piano on which she plays most delightfully.” The Truman catalog of Cruikshank’s satires lists this print as “very rare.”