Collector opens museum in Brooklyn to exhibit HUMAN bones

At the new Brooklyn Museum, the air is chilling to the bone, where 110 human spines hang on a wall, complete skeletons rise above the floor, and more than 90 skulls are on display starting next month.

While the sight of human remains may evoke thoughts of serial killers, John Pichaya Ferry uses his large collection to educate people about the stigmatized bone trade.

Ferry, 22, told DailyMail.com that there are hundreds of thousands of human skeletons in the US that were used for medical purposes, but now they’re gathering dust in attics because people don’t know what to do with them – and he created his own company. JonesBones as a solution.

“People feel stuck with bones because schools don’t accept them and it’s illegal to dispose of them improperly,” Ferry said.

“JonsBones provides services to them. Every item in our showroom belongs to people who inherited it from a family member who once worked in the medical field.”

John Pichaya Ferry is displaying his large collection of human bones at his new Brooklyn Museum in hopes of educating the public about the bone market.

John Pichaya Ferry is displaying his large collection of human bones at his new Brooklyn Museum in hopes of educating the public about the bone market.

The museum has a wall filled with 110 human spikes.  All bones were once used for medical or educational purposes and are legal.  Many of the remains belonged to doctors and professors in the 1950s who have since passed away and left the bones to their next of kin.

The museum has a wall filled with 110 human spikes. All bones were once used for medical or educational purposes and are legal. Many of the remains belonged to doctors and professors in the 1950s who have since passed away and left the bones to their next of kin.

The nearly $500,000 collection is spread over 175 square feet in the heart of the trendy Bushwick district, and while visitors can marvel at the remains, they’ll also learn about the origins of the bone trade. around the time of the hour tour.

The humble beginnings of the bone trade date back to the 18th century in the United Kingdom, when a group of body snatchers called the Resurrectionists stole human remains for medical schools.

In the United States, people stole the remains of Native Americans to make a profit.

News of these nightly robberies began to spread, forcing governments to intervene and create rules against such activities.

Ferry has over 90 skulls on display in a large glass box that he uses to tell people about the history of the sale of human remains in the market.

Ferry has over 90 skulls on display in a large glass box that he uses to tell people about the history of the sale of human remains in the market.

Ferry told DailyMail.com that there are hundreds of thousands of human skeletons in the US that were used for medical purposes, but now they're gathering dust in attics because people don't know what to do with them - and he created his own company called JonsBones.  solution

Ferry told DailyMail.com that there are hundreds of thousands of human skeletons in the US that were used for medical purposes, but now they’re gathering dust in attics because people don’t know what to do with them – and he created his own company called JonsBones. solution

Then the bones were bought in the USA in China and India.

“In 1983, 63,000 skulls were shipped to the US and UK in one year,” Ferry said.

“People do not realize the scale and scope, and although many of these institutions have gone [from purchasing human bones]the bones are still there.

Outsourcing stopped as soon as “health care companies started popping up to fuel that demand,” Ferry continued.

“There were 14 major bone companies that handled all of the world’s trade, but only four or five are still in operation.”

This is where Jones Bones comes into play.

Many of the skeletons in the museum were in people's attics because they were passed down from a family member and the new owners didn't know what to do with them.  Ferry offers these people a place to dispose of the remains, which could eventually be used by educational institutions.

Many of the skeletons in the museum were in people’s attics because they were passed down from a family member and the new owners didn’t know what to do with them. Ferry offers these people a place to dispose of the remains, which could eventually be used by educational institutions.

The nearly $500,000 collection spans 175 square feet in the heart of the trendy Bushwick district.  Pictured is 44 Stuart Avenue.

The nearly $500,000 collection spans 175 square feet in the heart of the trendy Bushwick district. Pictured is 44 Stuart Avenue.

The JonsBones website says it sells “responsibly sourced human osteology” and its mission is to “de-stigmatize a stigmatized industry.”

Ferry only focuses on bones that show signs of medical use — nothing archaeological, he told DailyMail.com.

At JonsBones, the remains are photographed, curated, documented and preserved “so that future generations can learn.”

Ferry, a full-time student studying product design at Parsons, discovered his love for bones when he was just 13 years old and was given a mouse skeleton by his father.  Pictured is Ferry as a child with his father.

Ferry, a full-time student studying product design at Parsons, discovered his love for bones when he was just 13 years old and was given a mouse skeleton by his father. Pictured is Ferry as a child with his father.

Ferry said his collections organizations may need one or two skeletons, each of which can be sold for at least $6,000.

The bones for sale also include thighs, skulls, spines, and whatever else Ferry currently has.

“These bones are not decoration, are not vanity or are used as a gimmick, they are used for education and training,” he said.

“We are returning these parts to hands that can benefit from them.”

Ferry, who is a full-time student studying product design at New York’s Parsons School of Design, discovered his love for bones when he was just 13 years old and was given a mouse skeleton by his father.

“I wanted to study osteology, but I couldn’t access the bones in the state I was in,” he said.

This led him to realize that there are human bones in people’s homes and they don’t know what to do with them.

These bones were mostly from the 1950s and 1960s, when medical students had to buy remains for classes.

Decades later, these people have passed and now their next of kin have become the new owners of the bones, and many fear the legality of owning and disposing of them.

Ferry said he’s received thousands of emails from people who have skeletons in their closet and fear getting in trouble for it.

He went on to explain that his degree in product design allows him to use a different methodology for identifying skeletons.

“I look at it in terms of design, how it was made,” Ferry said. “I can tell where it came from by looking at the connecting pins.

So brass and copper were used from 1920 to 1960 and then people switched to brass.

These little details, Ferry says, help him learn how the remains were prepared and determine where they came from.

The Brooklyn Museum, which will officially open its doors next month, displays a total of nine complete skeletons, more than 90 skulls and a wall of 110 human spines, as well as thousands of individual bones.

“I have always preached open accessibility and transparency,” Ferry said, going on to explain that the museum allows people to ask questions and have their say about the bone trade.

“People in Western culture have romanticized existing real crime theories,” he said.

“When people see bones, their minds jump to pop culture, not scientific or educational, and we want to talk about that.”

Although the Ferry business is legal, in the US many of them are not legal and most of them open stores on social media.

In 2020, Facebook launched an investigation into several private groups that have been selling and extorting human remains, including skulls, embryonic remains, and even a mummified six-year-old child dating back to the 1700s.

While Facebook has a policy that explicitly prohibits the “buying or selling of human body parts or liquids,” some users have found a workaround by using the site’s private groups feature.

One seller listed a human skull for $1,300, saying it belonged to a “young teenage girl” but did not provide any other information about its provenance.

And a separate listing described an elongated skull allegedly imported from Peru, which is being sold for $10,500.

There are no federal laws in the US that prevent individuals from owning, buying, or selling human remains, unless they belong to Native Americans.