After many years of searching, your humble webmaster has finally added to his collection the remarkable scale replica of Houdini's famous Chinese Water Torture Cell.
These beautiful replicas where produced in a very limited number by Douglas~Wayne Illusioneering in the mid 1990s. These were authorized by then cell owner Sidney Radner.
The replica measures 9 1/2" tall x 5 x 4 1/2 and is accurate in almost all details. Unfortunately, I don't have the original paperwork that came with it, but a plaque shows it to be #017.
This is something I will treasure.
What a wonderful replica.
ReplyDeleteJust ran across this as I was doing some research of my own, John. If you had this one manufactured, it was actually number 1 of 2 known reproductions made by George.
ReplyDeleteThe 16 replicas manufactured by Douglas~Wayne Illusioneering were the ones authorized in agreement with Sid Radner. While George certainly has the knowledge and skill to build these, they aren't legally speaking a part of the series made by us.
I bought this from a collector without any paperwork. Looks like when I posted this in 2006 I didn't know who made it and somehow came across George's name. But, yes, this must be from the Douglas~Wayne series. It says Issue #017 on the top. I'll add an update to this.
DeleteDear John o Dave, is it possible that at first they wanted to make 500 replicas in miniature? Or are there other companies that made miniature copies? Thank you. joan ballana.
DeleteWould you ever consider selling this replica?
ReplyDeleteAfraid not. I still love it.
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