Xavier Chabert, The Fire Eater

Artistengraving by William Holl the Elder (British, 1771 – 1838)

Artist Abraham Wivell (British)

Date1830

MediumInk on paper, engraving

DimensionsFRAMED: 16 × 19 in. (40.6 × 48.3 cm)
SHEET: 9 × 5 1/2 in. (22.9 × 14 cm)

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineTibbals Circus Collection

Object numberht8000237

Known respectively as ‘The Queen of the Fire-Eaters’ and ‘the Fire King’, Girardelli and Chabert gained notoriety by holding nitric acid, boiling oil, and melted wax in their mouths, and touching molten lead and lighted candles to their skin in order to prove how incombustible they really were. Chabert was also known to sit in heated ovens while cuts of meat roasted. Their fame is due in large part to the mystery surrounding how these feats were achieved.

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