Saturday 11 July 2015

Old Print of an Etching done by Thomas Rowlandson entitled: "A French Dentist Shewing a Specimen of his Artificial Teeth & False Palates".




 These three classically humorous persons are quite happy with the woman's new artificial teeth. The teeth were as comical as the victim, and their efficiency as instruments of mastication left much to be desired. However they were the only refuge since most of the population became edentulous at an early age from tooth decay and the almost epidemic incidence of gingival inflammation.

(* The term SHEWING is an old-fashioned variant spelling of SHOWING.)


DESCRIPTION:

This etching by Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827) is a satire on the popularity of French dentist- Nicholas Dubois de Chemant who perfected the manufacture of porcelain dentures which remained popular until  the next century. He was granted a 14- year patent for this invention in England, after fleeing there in 1792 to escape the French Revolution. In the early 19th century, the Wedgwood company supplied him with porcelain pastes for manufacturing his dental prosthetics.

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