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Bennington Porcelain Phrenology Head

Rare Bennington Pottery inkwell with cobalt decoration in the form of a phrenology head. Vermont, 1847-1858. 5½”H. Perfect condition with no base chips or repairs. Making its appearance in 1796, phrenology was based on the peculiar notion that one’s character could be “scientifically” analyzed by feeling the bumps on one’s head. Bizarre as it may seem now, phrenology was taken quite seriously and throughout the majority of the 1800s legions of bump-gropers traveled and lectured and groped in England and America. Among the best-known was Frederick Bridges, an English phrenologist, whose name is faintly impressed within the cartouche on the front. The head is apparently his own design and rights to reproduce it were licensed to Christopher Webber Fenton and Bennington Pottery. Ref.: Barrett, 1978, plate 405.

SOLD