Brief Description |
This figurine, carved in wood and gaudily painted, represents Alfred Mantilini, husband of Madame Mantalini, from Charles Dickens' third novel "Nicholas Nickleby", published in monthly parts from 1838 to 1839. Mantilini was a shiftless idler who lived by flattering his older wife until he had gone through all of her money. He ended up working for a laundress who had bailed him out of debtors' prison.
Mantilini is depicted wearing a yellow, red and brown striped shirt and trousers, and brown and orange striped tie, with a red waistcoat, a brown overcoat and a small red cap hat; he leans idly on a pedestal.
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