![[Mr Patrick O'Brien, Irish Giant.]](jpegs/57248.jpg)
[Mr Patrick O'Brien, Irish Giant.]
[n.d., c.1810.]
Grey wash with touches of red. Sheet 215 x 130mm (8½ x 5").
The Irish giant Patrick O'Brien (1760-1806, real name Patrick Cotter), leaning on the top of a door, towering over a dwarf, possibly John Coan (1728-1764), the ‘Norfolk Dwarf', an imaginary meeting. O'Brien was the first man in history with a certified height of over 8 feet (8'1", not 8'7'' as claimed), a record not broken for another century. He took the name O'Brien to claim descent from the legendarily gigantic Brian Boru. Working on the sideshow circuit he became quite wealthy, leaving £2,000 to his mother when he died. He left his clothes to his servant, who displayed them on a mannequin in the Haymarket; his boots are still on display in the Kinsale Museum. Cotter requested that his body be entombed within twelve feet of solid rock to prevent exhumation for scientific or medical research; however in 1972 his remains were examined and his height verified.
[Ref: 57248] £260.00
Grey wash with touches of red. Sheet 215 x 130mm (8½ x 5").
The Irish giant Patrick O'Brien (1760-1806, real name Patrick Cotter), leaning on the top of a door, towering over a dwarf, possibly John Coan (1728-1764), the ‘Norfolk Dwarf', an imaginary meeting. O'Brien was the first man in history with a certified height of over 8 feet (8'1", not 8'7'' as claimed), a record not broken for another century. He took the name O'Brien to claim descent from the legendarily gigantic Brian Boru. Working on the sideshow circuit he became quite wealthy, leaving £2,000 to his mother when he died. He left his clothes to his servant, who displayed them on a mannequin in the Haymarket; his boots are still on display in the Kinsale Museum. Cotter requested that his body be entombed within twelve feet of solid rock to prevent exhumation for scientific or medical research; however in 1972 his remains were examined and his height verified.
[Ref: 57248] £260.00