Painted plaster copy of death mask of James Bloomfield Rush (1800-1849), the notorious 'Killer in the Fog', probably part of a set of phrenological heads of criminals (a 'Murderers' Row'), unsigned, British, 1849-1900. This copy may have been made by the Tussaud waxworks who donated this object to the Wellcome collections in 1936.

James Bloomfield Rush (1800-1849) murdered Isaac Jermy (his landlord), and injuried Mrs Jermy and the maid at Stanfield Hall, Norfolk, England, on 28 November 1848. Rush became known as the ‘Killer in the Fog’ and was hanged for his crime on 21 April 1849. This is a plaster copy of his death mask. It is thought that this face was part of a set of phrenological heads known as ‘murderers’ row’. (Phrenologists believed that character could be read from the lumps and bumps of the skull.) This copy may have been made by the Tussaud waxworks who donated this object to the Wellcome collections in 1936.