Antique phrenology bust, vintage phrenology sculpture head
A wonderful antique ceramic phrenology head bust, with the divisions of the brain delineated and named in an elegant blue script.
Terms present include Time, language, instructiveness, combativeness, ideality, destructiveness, cautiousness, self-esteem, wonder, philoprogenitiveness, and in a joyous sense of modesty – we can’t know everything after all – simply a ‘?’ in some regions.
Phrenology was the study of the skull with the supposition that bumps and lumps in its form related to various personality traits of the subject. These were then mapped out by the practitioner on their sculpted head.
Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828) was the principle instigator of the practice which was debunked as pseudoscience towards the halfway point of the 19th century, though it retained popularity into the 20th.
The ceramic has a perforated texture in places and a slight crack over the top of the skull, which is perfectly stable. There is a discolouration of the off-white ceramic here and there, particularly arrived the mouth and eyes, likely a patina from the slightly rough textured ceramic being touched over the decades.
While there is no simple way to date a head such as this, no similar bursts appear online, amongst many clear replicas.
A truly wonderful sculptural curiosity which will be a talking point and look fantastic anywhere.
Measures 37cm tall X 16.5cm wide X 13cm deep at the base.
£275.00
In stock
A wonderful antique ceramic phrenology head bust, with the divisions of the brain delineated and named in an elegant blue script.
Terms present include Time, language, instructiveness, combativeness, ideality, destructiveness, cautiousness, self-esteem, wonder, philoprogenitiveness, and in a joyous sense of modesty – we can’t know everything after all – simply a ‘?’ in some regions.
Phrenology was the study of the skull with the supposition that bumps and lumps in its form related to various personality traits of the subject. These were then mapped out by the practitioner on their sculpted head.
Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828) was the principle instigator of the practice which was debunked as pseudoscience towards the halfway point of the 19th century, though it retained popularity into the 20th.
The ceramic has a perforated texture in places and a slight crack over the top of the skull, which is perfectly stable. There is a discolouration of the off-white ceramic here and there, particularly arrived the mouth and eyes, likely a patina from the slightly rough textured ceramic being touched over the decades.
While there is no simple way to date a head such as this, no similar bursts appear online, amongst many clear replicas.
A truly wonderful sculptural curiosity which will be a talking point and look fantastic anywhere.
Measures 37cm tall X 16.5cm wide X 13cm deep at the base.
