Phrenology head serves as decoration

#Middlebury #Antiques

Medicine has come a long way since the early 1800s, when phrenology was an accepted theory of diagnosis. It was said that each bump on your head covered a part of the brain that controlled a personality trait, like self-esteem, a destructive tendency or religious interest. The bumps might show a criminal tendency, but rewards and punishments could change tendencies.

Now considered a pseudoscience, phrenology was important in Britain, Ireland and the United States because of the lecturers who preached about it. Queen Victoria had the heads of her children read. By the 1840s, it had lost credibility in the United States.

There are still those who believe in the theories of phrenology, but most who buy a phrenology head want it as a decoration.

Brothers Lorenzo and Orson Fowler became famous for making china phrenology heads that had “maps” of the zones marked on them. They are still the symbols of phrenology, and old heads sell for over $500; modern copies are inexpensive. A baby’s head called “The Character Baby,” rarely seen, was offered at a Canadian shop, Peter Frampton Antiques & Interiors, for about $250. It pictures the 5-month-old son of the artist, George Ricci, who made phrenology heads from 1915 to 1921.

Q: I collect hair jewelry made in memory of relatives or important people like kings after they die. Was the hair taken from the dead person and braided to form the jewelry? Could you buy hair to make the big hair flower wreaths, or did you just buy a ready-made one?

A: Your questions will sound impolite to some, but remember that burials were usually at home, funerals were held within a few days unless the deceased was very important, and mourning among the rich required black dresses and jewelry for women and often daily church services for a year. Memorial gifts for relatives were given soon after the funeral.

By Victorian times, a lock of the deceased’s hair was snipped for a locket, ring, pendant or pin, and braided hair jewelry became popular and sometimes homemade. Magazines like “Godey’s Ladies Book” printed instructions. Hair wreaths were made with stranger’s hair or family hair that was provided for the braided flowers. Commercial jewelry could be a necklace or even a man’s watch chain of braided hair. More expensive jewelry used locks or braids in black and white settings of jet, gutta-percha, black onyx, bog oak, iron or black enamel with gold trim and diamonds or pearls

Current Prices
Bradley & Hubbard lamp, cigar lighter, urn shape, 2 sleeve holders, acanthus, ruby ball shade, 1880, 4 5/8 x 3 3/4 inches, $265.
Clarice Cliff, vase, bizarre ware, pink flowers, magenta outline, blue ground, 4 1/4 x 8 inches, $615.
Rock-Ola jukebox, Model 1458, 120 Hi-Fi, stars, green, blue, orange, 1958, 55 x 30 inches, $1,375.
Plated amberina creamer, opal cased, red shaded to cream, ribbed, amber handle, c. 1886, 2 x 3 1/4 inches, $2,615.

TIP: Scrape your fingernail across the scratch on the glass on your mirror. If it catches, the scratch is too deep to be polished out at home. It requires professional work.

For more collecting news, tips and resources, visit www.Kovels.com

© 2020 King Features Synd., Inc.