Just curious: does anyone here besides me have a realistic model of a human skull in their house?

No, I don’t even know where to get one.

Why do you have it?

No, but I have a model of a spine. :)

I have an exact replica of a complete human skeleton (including the skull). It’s in a box in the garage. Got a good deal on it from eBay a long time ago. I bought it because I wanted to see the bones in the foot to understand what was going on with my foot. I also have a model of a foot chopped in half showing bones, tendons, muscles, cartilage and blood vessels.

@Jeruba – I’m disappointed. I would think a real skull – not a plastic one – would be far more decorative for your fireplace mantle.

Why? Why not!

I have a semi-realistic one, that glows in the dark, from Disneyland. My dad handed me down his. It was a memorable fun thing that was at my grandma’s house when I was a kid.

My mom has an entire full-size replica of a human skeleton. She got it for her training (and now uses it in her practice) as a Feldenkrais practitioner, and it occasionally also makes appearances on Halloween.

The one I have is pretty much like this – a life-size model for medical students. The top comes off for viewing the interior (little metal hooks latching the top, not as found in nature). The teeth are even removable. One fell out and got lost.

I bought it because I wanted to use it as a model for drawing practice. When you’re doing portraits, you want to know the underlying structures and relationships.

It also comes out around the end of October when I feel like adding some special effects.

Since it’s really not a common and expected household item, I was curious who else might have them around and for what reason.

You can’t keep a real one, though, or at least not very easily:
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/09/why-you-cant-display-your-relatives-skull/597307/

I do not have one but I would like it. I have occasionally priced skeletons online, but never bought one. It’s a low-priority wish.

When my brother was an anthropology student, he had the job of making plaster copies of the university’s bone collection for other institutions. He brought the less-than-perfect pieces home. These were important specimens, including million-year-old people found by the Leakeys in Africa.

I wish I had kept one. I’ll have to ask if they are still around. Dipping the plaster models in tea makes them look old like the originals.

Here’s a neat skull story – in the 1600s, master sculpture Gian Lorenzo Bernini carved a marble skull for Pope Alexander VII. It is mentioned in writings of the time, and can be seen in an oil portrait of the pope.

Recently a skull that’s been on display in Germany was identified as that very sculpture. From the photos, it looks extraordinarily like a real human artifact.

Smithsonian Magazine – ‘Lost’ Marble Skull Sculpted by Baroque Artist Bernini Found Hidden in Plain Sight

@Call_Me_Jay Whoa. Cool.