The Man Who Invented Aztec Crystal Skulls
Berghahn Books (Verlag)
978-1-78920-478-0 (ISBN)
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.
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.
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
| Erscheinungsdatum | 01.05.2020 |
|---|---|
| Verlagsort | Oxford |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Themenwelt | Kunst / Musik / Theater |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Archäologie | |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Hilfswissenschaften | |
| ISBN-10 | 1-78920-478-X / 178920478X |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-78920-478-0 / 9781789204780 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
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