Carved out of rock crystal and long believed to be Aztec this beautiful object now appears to be a 19th Century fake. But still a work of art in its own right. From the British Museum.
"The first crystal skulls made their appearance in the early 1860s: they are small, usually not more than one and a half inches high, and the first to be documented seems to be the one in the British Museum, with others appearing in Paris and Mexico City over the next decade or so. This “first generation” of skulls is drilled from top to bottom, and may have been made from genuine pre-Hispanic crystal beads, which are known from archaeological contexts in Mexico; some may have been made as a memento mori, carved for the European market, with no intention to deceive.
"The Paris crystal skulls came from Eugène Boban, who ran antiquities shops in Mexico City and then in Paris in the 1870s, and who produced the first of a “second generation” of skulls, lifesize and unperforated. Failing to sell it in Paris or Mexico, where it was denounced as a fake, Boban set up shop in New York in 1886 and sold the skull at auction.
"Tiffany and Co bought it for $950 but a decade later sold it to the British Museum for the same amount. It became known as “the Aztec crystal skull” until modern workmanship was detected in the 1960s. Dr Jane Walsh, of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, who recently examined it with an electron microscope, considers it to be a 19th-century European “invention” carved with modern lapidary's equipment. "
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/court_and_social...
Damian Hurst was inspired by this - and by other genuinely Aztec
jade-encrusted skulls- to create his diamond-studded skull piece:
blogs.guardian.co.uk/art/2007/06/we_must_buy_the_diamond....
Schumata, misterw0rld, mr.jones, and 54 other people added this photo to their favorites.
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Incognita Nom de Plume 86 months ago | reply
Please consider posting this picture and any similar to the Wunderkammer www.flickr.com/groups/wunderkammer/ group. Some pictures posted to this group will also feature on Museum of Dust.
Thanks!
Incognita Nom de Plume 86 months ago | reply
I once did an exhibition in which one of the artists showed a series of crystal hammers... same amiguous presence...
Is this the skull in the British Museum?
AngelikaRaven 83 months ago | reply
isnt there a theory ..assuming there is a real one..
that there are three .. in the world??? something i heard from a prog on telly about the skull..
sad its faked but it is still very nice.. hopefully will see the real one/s one day....................
seriykotik1970 83 months ago | reply
Hello Angelika Raven- thanks for the comments on my photos. The British Museum really is an amazing place. On crystal skulls there is a legend- I just found this on Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_skull
It also mentions this particular skull.
Have you seen Pallamaio's picture on this theme?:
www.flickr.com/photos/pallamaio/187257522/
AngelikaRaven 83 months ago | reply
ooh it made me jump a bit..wasnt expecting eyes :::::: )
Garry Corbett 81 months ago | reply
I saw and photographed this last week! What an amazing museum and building...
seriykotik1970 74 months ago | reply
Check out the discussion on the Guardian blog, on Damian Hurst's diamond studded skull :
blogs.guardian.co.uk/art/2007/06/we_must_buy_the_diamond....
gipas76 66 months ago | reply
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called civiltà sepolte, and we'd love to have your photo added to the group.
Innita para No 57 months ago | reply
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called xetl, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
¤~Nikki~¤ 53 months ago | reply
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Skulls - And Its Many Faces, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
I love the crystal skull, nice reading to. :)
leespicedragon 53 months ago | reply
I still want to make one so bad from one of my larger 20 pound crystals
seriykotik1970 53 months ago | reply
Thanks for the invitations!.
Leespicedragon- I've no idea about how you'd go about sculpting crystal, but what about ice? Make a roundish block of ice in the freezer with a plastic bag for a mould and try sculpting it with a hot knife blade/ the bowl of a spoon. Work on it for a few minutes at a time and then return it to the freezer.
leespicedragon 52 months ago | reply
good Idea!! I will try it before I go t it with the stone .
Solaris° [deleted] 52 months ago | reply
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
seriykotik1970 52 months ago | reply
Hello Solaris- if it's skulls you want in your group I have some more. One of the skulls below is mine- I'll leave it to you to figure out which one. :-)
ChaanMuan- 48 months ago | reply
This photo can not be missing in:
We would greatly appreciate if you add this photo to our group.
Mesoamérica Hoy
José Reséndiz 47 months ago | reply
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called México de mis amores, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
ravyn3508 45 months ago | reply
niiiice skull
.::Prad Patel::. 39 months ago | reply
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Heritage Key, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
seriykotik1970 39 months ago | reply
Prad Patel- thanks for the invitation. But this is a 19th century 'fake' - and so doesn't really fit in the group.