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Jeremy
Bentham
The
figure is movable and has had it's position altered slightly over the
years.
Bentham had originally intended that his head should be part of the Auto-Icon,
and for years before his death it is said that he carried the glass eyes
in his pocket which were to adorn it.
Unfortunately when the time came to preserve it , the process didn't go
well and left the head unattractive and untrue to his likeness in life.
A wax head was therefore substituted, and for some years the real head,
with its glass eyes, reposed on the floor of the Auto-Icon, between Bentham's
legs.
It
is not entirely clear whether Bentham's head was dried in a speeded up
mummification process or if the skin was removed, cleaned of flesh and
re-applied to the skull as with taxidermy. Glass eye were used which is
not typical of mummification.
Click
here for fascinating details.
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