Reproduction
Object numberRCSIC/R 6
CollectionInstruments
Categoryprosthetic devices and implants
Object nameprosthetic noses
DescriptionA painted silver prosthetic nose, mounted on a spectacle frame, mid-nineteenth century.
This false nose was worn by a woman who had lost her own as a result of syphilis. She later presented it to her physician, stating that she had remarried and that her new husband preferred her without it.
presented
Physical Location
LocationOn display in the Hunterian Museum, Room 1: The Museum Collections
Physical Information
Physical descriptionThe nose is hollow and mounted on the bridge of a silver spectacle frame, which has two narrow adjustable silver straps, one passing behind the head and one over it from ear to ear to hold both spectacles and nose in place. The nose itself is painted to match the patient's flesh. Dimensions: 164mm w x 220mm d x 48mm h.
Dimensions
width: 164 mm
depth: 220 mm
height: 48 mm
depth: 220 mm
height: 48 mm
Bibliography
SourcePye 1878
256
NotesInstrument Collection catalogue 1878 to 1915
TranscriptS6 An artificial nose / The following note accompanied the specimen:- / “The patient presented herself wearing said apparatus. She was deficient in teeth as well as palate, the result of large doses of mercury given to her in cure for syphilis. She was married. Some years after she returned, with the with the nose in her hand, saying she had lost her (first) husband and marrying again, her present husband liked her better without the nose than with it. The nose was purchased for three pounds.” / From the collection of the late James Merryweather. / Presented by Mrs Merryweather /88.
SourceThompson 1954
495
NotesCopy in Instrument Information File, HMO.
