Nijmegen museum selling shrunken human head for €49,000

The Museumwinkel in Nijmegen is selling its human shrunken human head. It is listed on their website for 49 thousand euros. 'Henk', as he was named, could look good on a mantlepiece, the windowsill or even on the toilet, taxidermist Sophie Kiela said to NOS.

Henk is about 10 centimeters big and about 150 years old. He has a full head of hair and a beard. He comes from the Amazon area and was made by the Jivaro natives who used it as a trophy. The Jivaro cut off the heads of their enemies, removed the skulls and then heated the head to shrink it. A stone was put in the skin so that the head retains it original shape. The Jivaro then carried the heads on their belts.

Kiela believes that Henk was a European looking for the mythical El Dorado gold country, she said to NOS. "He ran into the wrong people, I think." Henk is a real shrunken head, not a fake copy. "You can see that by how his hair grows. On fake heads the hair grows in one direction. On Henk it grows in all directions, He even has a crown."

For the price he is going for, Kiela expects that Henk will end up with a collector. "It would be a sin if someone destroys him, but I won't even think about that." She adds that the new owner can definitely rename Henk. "He is called that because he looks like my father. His name is also Henk."