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ID #SA1194689
FOR SALE
£1,250
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Life Size Antique Anatomical Wax Head
For sale by Branching Out Antiques
for sale €1,463     $1,588
£1,250
Branching Out Antiques

Branching Out Antiques

Sellingantiques Verified Since Apr 2022
Browse dealers 78 items
  • About Us
    Decorative & country house antiques, including art and taxidermy
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Id #SA1194689
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Life Size Antique Anatomical Wax Head

19th century
Description

A very cool, very wonderful antique late 19th early 20th Century French anatomical mannequin wax and plaster head of a young man.

A rare survivor and complete with original glass eyes.

The head was reglued a long time ago to preserve it and plaster was poured within to reinforce the structure, which is now perfectly stable. There are a few chips/losses. The paintwork is all original and untouched.

A collector's piece.

Height 21cm Width 16cm Depth 20cm

Physical Dimensions
Height
21cm (8.27")
Width
16cm (6.30")
Depth
20cm (7.87")
Declaration

Branching Out Antiques has dated this Antique Anatomical Wax Head to the 1890s.

Reference Numbers
Sellingantiques Reference
SA1194689
Description
A very cool, very wonderful antique late 19th early 20th Century French anatomical mannequin wax and plaster head of a young man.

A rare survivor and complete with original glass eyes.

“
The head was reglued a long time ago to preserve it and plaster was poured within to reinforce the structure, which is now perfectly stable.
Branching Out Antiques

There are a few chips/losses. The paintwork is all original and untouched.

A collector's piece.

Height 21cm Width 16cm Depth 20cm

Height
21cm (8.27")
Width
16cm (6.30")
Depth
20cm (7.87")
Date of Manufacture

Branching Out Antiques has dated this Antique Anatomical Wax Head to the 1890s.

Reference Numbers
Sellingantiques Ref
SA1194689
Branching Out Antiques
Branching Out Antiques
Sellingantiques verified Since Apr 2022

Decorative & country house antiques, including art and taxidermy

Dealer Profile

You can view the stock and full dealer information on the Branching Out Antiques Profile Page

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A life-size antique anatomical wax head displaying detailed vascular structures and grid markings, featuring inset glass eyes and mounted on a dark metal stand.
1 / 8
Archive I A life-size antique anatomical wax head displaying detailed vascular structures and grid markings, featuring inset glass eyes and mounted on a dark metal stand.

Life Size Antique Anatomical Wax Head

Archive II A life-size antique anatomical wax head displaying detailed vascular structures and grid markings, featuring inset glass eyes and mounted on a dark metal stand. View II
Archive III A life-size antique anatomical wax head displaying detailed vascular structures and grid markings, featuring inset glass eyes and mounted on a dark metal stand. View III
Archive IV A life-size antique anatomical wax head displaying detailed vascular structures and grid markings, featuring inset glass eyes and mounted on a dark metal stand. View IV
Archive V A life-size antique anatomical wax head displaying detailed vascular structures and grid markings, featuring inset glass eyes and mounted on a dark metal stand. View V
Archive VI A life-size antique anatomical wax head displaying detailed vascular structures and grid markings, featuring inset glass eyes and mounted on a dark metal stand. View VI
Archive VII A life-size antique anatomical wax head displaying detailed vascular structures and grid markings, featuring inset glass eyes and mounted on a dark metal stand. View VII
Archive VIII A life-size antique anatomical wax head displaying detailed vascular structures and grid markings, featuring inset glass eyes and mounted on a dark metal stand. View VIII
Enlarged Archival View
Branching Out Antiques

Branching Out Antiques
Telephone 07742 117815
Location
Kent
United Kingdom

By appointment only.
Dealer Profile Page sellingantiques.co.uk/branchingout
Verified Since Apr 2022
Items For Sale 78
Items Sold 380
Branching Out Antiques
Branching Out Antiques
Verified Since Apr 2022
View Dealer Info
Location: Kent, United Kingdom, , By appointment only.
Profile: sellingantiques.co.uk/branchingout
Verified
Apr 2022
For Sale
78
Sold
380
A life-size antique anatomical wax head displaying detailed vascular structures and grid markings, featuring inset glass eyes and mounted on a dark metal stand.
LIFE SIZE ANTIQUE ANATOMICAL WAX HEAD
Ref: SA1194689
A life-size antique anatomical wax head displaying detailed vascular structures and grid markings, featuring inset glass eyes and mounted on a dark metal stand.
Detail View 1
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Archival Detail

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Cataloguer’s note

Written by Sellingantiques from the dealer’s photographs and listing
  • ObjectAnatomical Model
  • Period19th century
  • Style19th Century Medical
  • MaterialWax, Glass, Metal, Paint
  • ColourWarm Ochre
  • MotifsInset glass eyes, Painted vascular details, Phrenological grid markings, Metal mounting support
  • SizeH 21 cm (8 in) x W 16 cm (6 in) x D 20 cm (8 in)

This life-size late 19th-century French anatomical mannequin head of a young man dates from 1890 in a nineteenth-century medical style. Made from wax, glass, metal, and paint in a warm ochre colour, it displays inset glass eyes, painted red and blue vascular details, and phrenological grid markings, supported by a vertical metal mounting stand. The head shows chips and losses to the wax, along with visible historical reglued break lines and internal plaster reinforcement. Measuring 21 cm high, 16 cm wide, and 20 cm deep, the object sits well on a bookshelf within a gentleman's library setting as a collector's display piece.

FAQs

Anatomical wax models, also known as ceroplastics, were produced predominantly in the 18th and 19th centuries as precise educational tools for medical students and physicians to study human anatomy without reliance on perishable cadavers.

These models were crafted using mixtures of beeswax, resins, and lard to achieve realistic translucency, combined with hand-painted pigments, inset glass eyes, human hair, and support structures made of metal rods or wood.

Authentic period examples display natural age-related patination, subtle surface craquelure, historical pigments, and hand-blown glass elements, often mounted on original forged iron or turned timber display stands.

Designers frequently position these scientific items as sculptural focal points in dark academia-inspired spaces, placed on bookshelves, console tables, or integrated into modern cabinets of curiosities.

Wax models must be kept in temperature-controlled environments away from direct sunlight, central heating, and high humidity, cleaned gently using soft brushes, and shielded from dust beneath glass display cloches.
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