Browse Items (6 total)

An illustration of the thirty-five phrenological faculties, as seen in Samuel Roberts Wells' How to read character : a new illustrated hand-book of phrenology and physiognomy, for students and examiners : with a descriptive chart. This particular…

The most enduring icon of phrenology, the symbolical head is a model showing the thirty-five phrenological faculties. They were used both as teaching tools and as advertising.

Marked or numbered with the thirty-five faculties identified by J. G. Spurzheim, these 19th century symbolical heads remain the most enduring icon of the phrenological movement. Many heads of this type were produced and marketed by the Fowler and…

Produced just after his sudden death, this portrait of Spurzheim holding a symbolical head is said to be one of the best productions from the studio of Boston painter Alvan Fisher. Dr. J. Mason Warren, the son of John Collins Warren, purchased the…

This English satiric print illustrates some of the absurdities associated with phrenology, as the traits and marked skulls of dogs, birds, and horses are treated on a par with humans. The phrenologist "Doctor S." may be intended to represent Johann…

Even in the first years of its popularity during the early nineteenth century, phrenology was a source of amusement to many and became a target for a number of satiric artists of the day, such as George Cruikshank, the "Phiz" illustrator of Charles…