Jean Armour had died in 1834 and was to be buried beside Robert in the Mausoleum in Dumfries. The cast was made when the Mausoleum was opened for Jean’s burial and permission was granted to study the skull of the poet.
The cast was made to satisfy interest at the time in what made some men greater than others. Phrenology attempted to explain differences in personality and intelligence by looking at the shape, size and the bumps on the skull. This examination of Burns’s skull was reported to have laid stress on the circumference of the poet’s skull (22.5 inches) and to have come to the conclusion that he must have had an extremely active brain.
This cast is one of many in existence.