Featured Phrenology Head?

Discussion in 'Antique Discussion' started by Barn Owl, Dec 22, 2018.

  1. Barn Owl

    Barn Owl Well-Known Member

    I don't know why I do this to myself. Bought this today because I have poor impulse control. I saw a few people eyeing it and had a feeling it would be gone if I went back on Monday.

    It's about 12 inches tall, I think. Maybe 5 or so pounds; not sure, I don't have a scale. No vent holes. It feels like some kind of ceramic or porcelain.

    This one (http://www.icollector.com/PHRENOLOGY-HEAD_i11086217) has similar numbering.

    20181222_152657.jpg 20181222_152704.jpg 20181222_152712.jpg 20181222_152720.jpg 20181222_152704.jpg
     
  2. Fid

    Fid Well-Known Member

    a Bingo skull for TCM guys.
     
  3. Darkwing Manor

    Darkwing Manor Well-Known Member

    That is beautiful! Looks like the real thing! I have a repro with transfers, but I love it just the same. phren head.jpg
     
  4. johnnycb09

    johnnycb09 Well-Known Member

    Ive never seen one like this! Id have had to have it too.,
     
  5. Barn Owl

    Barn Owl Well-Known Member

    Thanks! That's what I'm hoping! It seems like really good quality, even if it's a repro.
    I've been searching for one of those. I love medical related oddities.

    I've searched on Google for the last hour, and I haven't been able to find a similar one with this sort of numbering. The others seem to stop in the 30s. I wonder if it's a different system.
     
  6. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

  7. Barn Owl

    Barn Owl Well-Known Member

    Thank you ;) All I need to figure out now is how I'm going to get it home. I'll probably have to ship stuff back when I return to the US.

    The numbering is similar to the image in the link, but mine goes into the 70s. It looks like the system normally only has 35 parts.
     
  8. Lecollectionneur

    Lecollectionneur Well-Known Member

    About 10-15 years ago you can find on London place a lot of phrenological heads, I bought a small one for curiosity but they are clearly repros sold without infomations by Bermondseys sellers, a good original costs a lot, they are sold in auctions from 4-500$ to a lot more…
    Another link to results of phrenological items.
     
  9. Bronwen

    Bronwen Well-Known Member

    Are there any other numbers missing besides 32?
     
  10. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    So it is! According to the link I posted that would be 'tune'. I assume the head is tone deaf.
     
  11. Barn Owl

    Barn Owl Well-Known Member

    Thank you for pointing that out. I didn't even notice that.
    I checked. The other missing numbers are: 6, 36, 54, 64, 67.
    The numbers go from 1 - 76.
     
  12. Barn Owl

    Barn Owl Well-Known Member

    Wow, that's amazing. If it's an original, it'll have been a great bargain, even if I have to ship it home.

    All of the letters are hand-engraved, so even if it's a repro, it's a good quality one, I suspect.
     
  13. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    That is starting to sound like brain damage. I can relate to that.:hilarious:
     
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  14. evelyb30

    evelyb30 Well-Known Member

    Lots of us are skipping cylinders these days.
     
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  15. Miscstuff

    Miscstuff Sometimesgetsitright

    Speak for yourself. I can remember what I ate for breakfast yesterday ... I think...ummm :bag::bag::bag:
     
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  16. Lecollectionneur

    Lecollectionneur Well-Known Member

    What intrigues me is it's perfectly clean, you can just obtain this result with ultrasonic cleaning, result of flies are the most difficult thing to clean on such surface.
     
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  17. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

    it's make a nice hat stand !! :playful::playful:
     
  18. Barn Owl

    Barn Owl Well-Known Member

    Yeah, it's in surprisingly good condition. I'm not sure what kind of pottery it's made out of. It feels a bit like bisque. I've found other items from the late 1800s in good condition, but I wonder if this might have been made later.

    Good idea! I have a large collection of hats anyway, haha.
     
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  19. Diggummup

    Diggummup Well-Known Member

    I've seen and passed by a few dozen of those type of heads over the years, never purchasing one. I probably would have bought that one though.
     
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  20. janetpjohn

    janetpjohn Well-Known Member

    There are over 3000 phrenology heads on worthpoint, so I gave up. I would be tempted to get this one a nice pair of sunglasses, because his eyes are creepy.
     
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