Plaster death mask of the head of bushranger Ned Kelly

Bushranger Ned Kelly was hanged at Melbourne Gaol on the morning of 11 November 1880. Immediately after his body was taken down from the gallows, his hair and beard were shaved off and a mould taken of his head by Maximilien Kreitmayer. There may also have been other moulds taken. It is rumoured, for example, that at least one was taken by students of the School of Anatomy at the University of Melbourne. The mask is a unique three-dimensional representation of one of Australia's better-known historical figures, created shortly after his death.