Lot 1082

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Description:

Excellent group of artifacts, documents and ephemera related to the criminal career and violent death of notorious bank robber JOHN DILLINGER (1903-1934). Includes: A plaster death mask, approx. 11 1/2" x 5 1/2" x 3 1/4", a second-generation copy made from a mold taken from Dillinger's face as he lay in the Cook County morgue following his death at the hands of federal agents. The mold was made by Prof. D.E. Ashworth of the Worsham School of Embalming and several of his students, who falsely implied they had the permission of FBI agent Melvin Purvis and the Cook County coroner to access the body. Their original mold was confiscated by a police sergeant, but one of Ashworth's students, Marjorie Eker McDougall, engaged the officer in conversation while he left the room to secure the mold in a safe, allowing the group enough time to make a second mold and smuggle it out of the building. The mask presented here is a circa 1980's copy made from an original cast belonging to Marjorie Eker McDougall, which was later given to Joe Wilimovsky of Chicago's Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory. It is mounted on a wood plaque, and is in very good condition. WITH: A second plaster death mask, approx. 12" x 6" x 4 1/2", a third-generation copy of a mask made from a mold taken by Jerome Nachtman of the Reliance Dental Supply Company, who used it to make a cast which he forwarded to FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, in an attempt to demonstrate the forensic utility of a mold-making compound he had developed. After an FBI investigation determined that there was no inherent illegality involved in the making of this mask, the Bureau made their own copies for distribution to interested law enforcement agencies. This example is believed to have been copied from a mask procured by the Las Vegas Police Department, circa 1980's. The mask is affixed to a wood faux-marble plaque, and is in very good condition. Both masks are coated with light yellow paint. Both of the above masks, as well as several items signed by Marjorie Eker McDougall and additional original newspapers, modern copies of period photos, copies of FBI documents and newspaper articles, and much else, all originate from the collection of Playboy editor and Chicago crime historian Bill Helmer. WITH: Yet a third white plaster death mask, approx. 11" x 6 1/2" x 4 1/4", unmounted but fitted with a hanging hook on the verso, as well as the printed label: "John Dillinger Death Mask casting, Cook County Morgue, July 22, 1934". This particular mask features the greatest detail of the three presented here, showing the wounds on his cheeks, his mustache and his eyebrows in near-perfect clarity, and most closely resembles official photos taken of Dillinger's face during his autopsy. However, its provenance is also the least certain. Several photos present with the collection show Marjorie Eker McDougall and Bill Helmer holding an unmounted white plaster death mask similar to this one, lacking the yellow paint seen on the other two examples described above, which likely indicates that this mask also originates from the mold made by McDougall and Prof. Ashworth's group. It may be a first-generation cast made from that mold and retained by McDougall, making it the example closest to the original presented here, as well as the most faithful representation of Dillinger's final appearance. It shows an approx. 1" chip to the bottom right corner of the neck, else very good. A first-rate collection of items, certainly worthy of further research. Should be seen.

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February 19, 2019 10:00 AM EST
Chesapeake City, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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