DEATH MASK

After Ned Kelly was executed on 11/11/1880 his head was shaved and strips of plaster were applied
to his face to make a mask.
In Ned's time it was very routine to have a death mask made, there were also it is interesting to note,
life masks or masks taken from living souls.
A mask of a criminal was made for several reasons, mainly however to assist the 'science' of Phrenology.
A Phrenologist would feel the lumps on a convicts head to determine just how bad they really were.
The following article from Melbourne's Herald dated 18 Nov 1880 illustrates this point.

STATE LIBRARY LINK

Source: Paper of record.