San Francisco, CA
Details
- Dimensions
- 1.25ʺW × 1.25ʺD × 3.5ʺH
- Styles
- Victorian
- Period
- Early 19th Century
- Country of Origin
- United Kingdom
- Item Type
- Vintage, Antique or Pre-owned
Shop Sustainably with Chairish
- Materials
- Brass
- Gold
- Porcelain
- Condition
- Good Condition, Original Condition Unaltered, Some Imperfections
- Color
- White
- Condition Notes
- see above see above less
- Description
-
ABOUT
A 19th-century English porcelain letter seal in the form of a phrenological head. The areas of the skull numerically … more ABOUT
A 19th-century English porcelain letter seal in the form of a phrenological head. The areas of the skull numerically demarcated with the key surrounding the neck. Gilt accent around the neck and mounted on a brass base.
A rare English porcelain phrenology head pipe tamper or seal with information of the "Science" written in fine script. The modelling and quality of the piece is exceptional. Phrenology was a science of character divination, faculty psychology, theory of brain and what the 19th-century phrenologists called "the only true science of mind." Phrenology came from the theories of the idiosyncratic Viennese physician Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828).
CREATOR L.N. Fowler, London, UK.
DATE OF MANUFACTURE c.1850s.
MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES Porcelain.
CONDITION Good. Wear consistent with age and use. Chip on the right side of the nose.
DIMENSIONS H 3.5 in. W 1.25 in. D 12.5 in.
HISTORY
The phrenology head seen here provided a three-dimensional reference guide to direct the reading of a subject’s skull. It was marketed by L. N. Fowler & Co., the phrenological enterprise of the American brothers Lorenzo Niles Fowler (1811-1896) and Orson S. Fowler (1809-1887). The Fowlers first took to the road in 1834, lecturing for free and examining heads for a fee. In the next year they opened an office in New York City, where they operated a phrenological museum and library, the publishing house of L.N Fowler & Co., and a lecture booking bureau. Their American Phrenological Journal and Life Illustrated, which lasted until 1911, soon emerged as the leading phrenological publication.
Phrenology appeared on the American scene in 1832 when Johann Kaspar Spurzheim (1776-1832) arrived in New York to begin a speaking tour. His popular lectures presented the teachings of Viennese physician Franz-Joseph Gall (1758-1828), who proposed the concept of localized brain function. According to Gall, the different functions of the brain, such as memory, language, emotion, the ability to recognize faces, perform calculations, and appreciate music, were situated in specific sites or “organs” of the brain. Gall contended that each “organ” of the brain would hypertrophy (grow) or atrophy (shrink) with use, and that these changes would be perceptible on the surface contour of the skull. Consequently, one could assess different abilities and personality traits by “reading” the surface bumps on the skull. Gall never approved of the term phrenology; he called his system organology and later simply the physiology of the brain. Spurzheim, however, used the term phrenology and it stuck. less
San Francisco, CA
Questions about the item?
Featured Promoted Listings
Related Collections
- Chrome Home Accents
- Asian Home Accents
- Jade Home Accents
- Home Accents in Tampa
- Rustic Home Accents
- Sterling Silver Home Accents
- Ronson Home Accents
- Licio Zanetti Home Accents
- Mosaic Home Accents
- Crystal Home Accents
- Barbini Home Accents
- Home Accents in Los Angeles
- Antique Brass Finish Home Accents
- Federal Home Accents
- Apricot Home Accents
- Anglo-Indian Home Accents
- Jaru Home Accents
- Raspberry Pink Home Accents
- Surrealism Home Accents
- British Colonial Home Accents
- Cenedese Home Accents
- Demott Home Accents
- Auburn Home Accents
- Mauve Home Accents
- LeMaire Paris Home Accents