Christie's Considers Another Macabre Item: Skull Alleged to Belong to Beethoven

AP/ Courtesy of the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies

According to Keith Thompson of the Huffington Post, a California businessman by the name of Paul Kauffman is in possession of a very unique and sought after relic; Ludwig van Beethoven's skull.  The story of how the notorious composer's melon ended up in his hands begins with a bit of ancestry.

              Kauffman's great uncle was a physician who was directly involved in the 1863 exhumation of Beethoven's remains. It is believed that the exhumation was elicited by the growing interest at the time in phrenology, the belief that a person's traits can be derived from studying the shape of their skull. Beethoven's head was not the only victim of this now debunked scientific theory. "Notable victims include composers Franz Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and English philosopher Thomas Browne," says Thompson.

              Kauffman made the remarkable discovery while cleaning out his late mother's home in 1990, when he uncovered a pear shaped box labeled "Beethoven." Authenticating the origin of the skull was a multi-year process involving a slue of tests comparing known strands of Beethoven's hair and the skull which was originally found in fragments. According to the Center for Beethoven Studies at San Jose State University, the result was a match. There now seems to be a concrete consensus that the skull in fact belonged to the great composer.

              Now Kauffman is looking to cash in on this one of a kind treasure. He is currently testing the market, but has identified his hopes for the new home of the skull. He told Thompson, "The objective is to share it with the public, in my heart it should be in a museum."

Reports have surfaced, however, that Christie's, following the abrupt withdrawal from auction of a skull and crossbones ballot box believed to have once been used in ceremonial meetings for the notorious secret society The Skull and Bones, has not ruled out the possibility of auctioning off Kauffman's find. However, the legalities regarding the sale of human remains is still murky, despite the overwhelming interest. Kauffman believes the skull has the potential to sell for $100k plus.  Anyone incapable of spending that kind of money may prefer to stay out of the realm of cranioklepty and stick to collecting baseball cards.

Read more on the story of Beethoven's skull