The Man Who Invented Aztec Crystal Skulls

The Adventures of Eugène Boban
1. Auflage 2020
ISBN: 978-1-78920-478-0
Verlag: Berghahn Books

Buch, Englisch, 348 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 482 g

Eugène Boban began life in humble circumstances in Paris, traveled to the California Gold Rush, and later became a recognized authority on pre-Columbian cultures.  He also invented an entire category of archaeological artifact: the Aztec crystal skull. By his own admission, he successfully “palmed off” a number of these crystal skulls on the curators of Europe’s leading museums. How could that happen, and who was this man? Detailed are the travels, self-education, and archaeological explorations of Eugène Boban; this book also explores the circumstances that allowed him to sell fakes to museums that would remain undetected for over a century.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Walsh, Jane MacLaren

Topping, Brett

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Afrikanische Geschichte Afrikanische Geschichte: vorkolonial
• Geisteswissenschaften Kunst Kunst, allgemein Kunstsammlung, Museen, Ausstellungen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of illustrations

Acknowledgments

Authors' Note

List of Abbreviations

Introduction: On the Trail of Crystal Skulls

Chapter 1. Caveat Emptor

Chapter 2. Between Old World and New

Chapter 3. Mexico: Ancient to Modern

Chapter 4. Mexico at Mid-Century

Chapter 5. The Emperor’s Antiquarian: A Collection Takes Shape

Chapter 6. Confronting a Different Paris

Chapter 7. Marketing a Collection

Chapter 8. A Premier Collection

Chapter 9. Narratives of Provenance

Chapter 10. The Rue du Sommerard Decade

Chapter 11. Of Fakes and Fakers

Chapter 12. From Student to Teacher: Dealer to Curator

Chapter 13. Good Deals and Bad

Chapter 14. Back in Business

Chapter 15. Fingerprints on Crystal Skulls

Chapter 16. Courting the Smithsonian

Chapter 17. Of Fakes, Forgers and Frauds

Chapter 18. “El Tocayo’s” Triumph

Chapter 19. Later Life

Chapter 20. Afterlife

Epilogue

References

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Topping, Brett
Brett Topping has been a professional writer and editor of arts and humanities publications for more than thirty-five years. During her career she was Editor at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, and Director of Publications for the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA).

Walsh, Jane MacLaren
Jane MacLaren Walsh, anthropologist emerita at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, is an internationally recognized authority on crystal skulls and other fake pre-Columbian antiquities. Her most recent research combines geology and archaeology in a study of the iconic stone faces of Teotihuacan.

Jane MacLaren Walsh, anthropologist emerita at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, is an internationally recognized authority on crystal skulls and other fake pre-Columbian antiquities. Her most recent research combines geology and archaeology in a study of the iconic stone faces of Teotihuacan.