Phrenology Skull


  • Year2018
  • Dimensions
    Frame: 16.5cm x 16.5cm x 2cm / 6.5" x 6.5" x .8"
    Embossed panel: 7cm x 7cm / 2.7" x 2.7"
  • MediaEmbossed pewter, paper illustration
  • SOLD 
  • AvailableClick here to enquire

Phrenology was a pseudoscience, popular in the mid 19th Century, that suggested one’s personality and character could be predicted by delicate measurements of the skull. It was a primitive form of neuroscience that would eventually be discarded, though thankfully for collectors of vintage curiosities, it left behind a legacy of gorgeously detailed phrenology busts. For this piece I have embossed a skull and cut away the metal in the brain area to reveal a vintage illustration, showing the areas of the brain that were supposedly responsible for different kinds of thoughts and character traits. The piece is framed in a black wooden frame, there’s a hook for hanging and also a fold out stand so it can be placed on a flat surface.