Description

An antique Dentists Travelling Cabinet by The Dental Manufacturing Co\’, c.1910 complete with contents. The cabinet is teak with brass fittings with a lift up top and 6 drawers. The contents are explained further below, some are likely original and others not. The cabinet bears a brass plaque engraved with the original or previous owners name \’F. Weakley\’. The catalogue page comes from an early DMC catalogue and shows this cabinet as a \’Guy\’s Hospital Pattern Student\’s Cabinet\’, indicating that it was made specifically for Guy\’s Hospital student dentists to acquire their working toolkit.

The inside lid is padded and carries a worn leather tag with the makers name, inside a lift out metal tray contains a variety of forceps, probes and other instruments, the forceps are DMC, two of the remainder Claudius Ash and the others unbranded. Also included here are a number of boxes from various makers and dates, all the boxes have their contents.

The first drawer contains a large collection of instruments from a variety of makers, 34 in total.

The second drawer has a variety of burrs and drill bits a pair of gold pince nez (lenses missing) and a boxed Lathe Wheel.

The third drawer, metal spatulas, tweezers and probes, an ebony handled Maw scalpel, amalgum carriers and DMC adjustable pliers.

The fourth drawer boxed items including needles, the boxes have their contents.

The fifth drawer 12 pairs of forceps by various makers, Claudius Ash, Arnold, Melville and others.

The sixth drawer contains a boxed drill, dental wax and a mouth gag.

The case measures 31 x 32 x 22cm  (12”x 12.6” x 8.66”) and weighs 9.7kg (21.4Ibs).

This is a very rare and high quality case brimful of contents. Surgical and dental items were manufactured without regard to cost and made in necessarily small numbers and so quality was always paramount