ANTIQUE PHRENOLOGY BUSTS
Alex Peck Medical Antiques
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Phrenology was the study of the shape and features of a person's head to allegedly determine attributes such as character, intelligence, diligence, etc. While the practice has lost its legitimacy, it did mark the beginning of the inquiry into what part of the brain controls what and of the field of neurology.
To help with the reading of a subject's head, busts of the ideal head, such as the examples shown here, were made to serve as reference points. The cranium was divided into various regions of sentiments, and these were labeled. The best known of these busts is that to the left which was designed by Lorenzo N. Fowler, a prominent practitioner of phrenology in the nineteenth century. This particular example is quite rare and dates to Fowler's first years in London in the 1860s. (Similar models were produced for many years and are widely reproduced today.) The center bust is from Seville, Spain, and the sentiments are in Spanish. The bust is about life-size and dates to c. 1850. To the far right is an R. Wells 1870s plaster bust from New York. Note that the sentiments are marked with printed labels that were attached to the head.
Other phrenological antiques include books, calipers, charts, snuff boxes decorated with crania, cane handles, inkwells, and photographs.
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