Eugène Boban


Eugène Boban or Boban-Duvergé was a French antiquarian. He was the official archaeologist of the court of Maximilian I of Mexico, and a member of the French Scientific Commission in Mexico. From time to time he sold crystal skulls, one which is now in the Musée du Quai Branly and another in the British Museum.

Career

Eugène Boban went to Mexico in 1857, and became fluent in both Spanish and Nahuatl. He headed an expedition commissioned by Napoleon III to collect Mexican art and artifacts, later exhibited at the Trocadéro Museum in connection with the International Exposition. In 1885 he had published a poster, Cuadro arqueológico y etnográfico de la republica mexicana. In July 1886, he moved his business to New York City. Two sale catalogues of his collection, catalogued by Ed. Frossard, were published in New York in 1887. In 1891, he organized and published the Aubin-Goupil Collection of manuscripts, bought in 1889 by Eugène Goupil and now in the Bibliothèque nationale. Ethnological objects from his collection were sold at Paris in 1908.

Questions of authenticity

A crystal skull originally sold by Boban, now in the British Museum, has been demonstrated to be a modern fake.

Published works

Boban's published works include: