Houdini had a nearly complete second cell created in case anything happened to the effect while on tour (on one occasion the glass did break because the water was too hot - so Houdini believed).

The apparatus weighed around three-quarters of a ton and the cell held 250 gallons of water. It disassembled into pieces that fit into four custom traveling cases and three crates. The front consisted of a plate of half-inch tempered glass. The frame and heavy stocks were made of Honduras mahogany and nickel-plated steel with brass fixtures. It stood 59 inches tall, 26.5 inches wide. He went on to become the most famous escape artist of his day, captivating massive audiences by escaping during stage performances from the glass Chinese Water Torture Cell while suspended upside down and confined by a straightjacket.Houdini had his cell built in England at a cost of more than $10,000. After a stint as a circus performer in the 1890s he become a magician and changed his name as a tribute to the French magician Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin. Harry Houdini, who was born Ehrich Weiss in Budapest in 1874, immigrated with his family to rural Appleton, Wisconsin when he was a child. We integrate historic posters, broadsides, photographs, film and Houdini’s magic apparatus with contemporary pieces,” said Brooke Kamin Rapaport, the curator of the exhibit at the Manhattan museum. “The show is an interdisciplinary exhibition.

“Houdini: Art and Magic,” which opens on Friday at The Jewish Museum, will feature a recreation of the Chinese Water Torture Cell, which Houdini used to enthrall huge audiences with his daring, death-defying escapes.

Houdini water escape