Object Literature
Based on the idea that as the skull takes its shape from the brain, the surface of the skull can be read as an index of psychological aptitudes and tendencies, skulls such as this were part of the jigsaw of Victorian medical study. Derived from the theories of the idiosyncratic Viennese physician Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828), phrenology was a faculty psychology, theory of brain and science of character reading, and what the nineteenth century phrenologists called “the only true science of mind”.
Whether this was crafted in the year of 1938 being the “The Fateful Year” when the persecution of the Jews in Germany escalated is a possibility.
Unlike soulless modern copies, this skull has a wonderful patina and weight and is not only a super decorative macabre item but also one worthy of further research.