1076

Rare Antique Continental Quartz Rock Crystal Skull, carved in the form of a human cranium with incised teeth, h. 6-3/4", w. 3-3/4", d. 6-1/2". Provenance: Antiquus, London, January 6, 1997; The Flatt Collection. There are but a few antique life-sized crystal rock human skulls in the world, the majority of which have been purchased by major museums and collectors. Skulls of this magnitude made their debut in the 1860s and owe much of their grandeur and mysticism to one Frenchman, Eugene Boban (1834-1908) - the official archaeologist of the Mexican court of Emperor Maximilian. Boban, fluent in Spanish and Nahuatl (Aztec/Mixtec language), was also a member the French Scientific Commission. Before serving under Maximilian, Boban carved out a lucrative career in doling out Mexican "artifacts". Though Pre-Columbian cultures in the Yucatan did sculpt small votive crystal skulls ~1-1.5", quartz was not the preferred medium nor were large three-dimensional objects. Most "death heads" were made of other materials in the bas-relief style of ancient stele and glyphs. "Death heads", both crystal and not, featured prominently at Boban's collection of Meso-American artifacts at the Universal Exposition of Paris in 1867. Demand for these small Pre-Columbian crystal skull votives led to the discovery of monumental ones, like the one offered here. Three of these Boban skulls sold to Alphonse Pinart, a French explorer and ethnographer, after Boban returned to Paris and opened an antiquities shop. All of these were donated to French museums. Another Boban skull found its way to America and was purchased by Tiffany & Co. at auction, before being sold to the British Museum. Recent lapidary technology has concluded that these rock crystal skulls are not of Pre-Columbian style, design or cutting tools. They still, however, are highly coveted for their remarkable craftsmanship and rarity at market. Since Boban's death, only a few other known skulls have been revealed: the Mitchell-Hedges one (1934); the Smithsonian one (1960); and Max, the eponymous skull, featured internationally on the Travel, Discovery and BBC channels. References: This description is greatly indebted to Jane MacLaren Walsh, the Smithsonian anthropologist, who has overseen the research and care of the Smithsonian quartz rock crystal skull since 1960. For more information, see her article "Legends of the Crystal Skulls." Archaeology: A Publication of the Archaeological Institute of America 61:3 (May/June 2008).


  • Condition: In overall very good condition. No visible losses. Pressure cracks and inclusions are present throughout as to be expected with rock crystals. There are some scattered surface scuffs, which are consistent with age and use.

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December 6, 2015 10:00 AM CST
New Orleans, LA, US

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