Liston Knife
date: label: date made
content: c. 1850s-1860s
label: date made
content: 1850s-1860s
name: label: maker
content: Gemrig, John H.
label: maker
content: Gemrig, Jacob H.
notes: label: Description
content: This type of surgical knife was named after Robert Liston (1794-1847). Liston was a Scottish surgeon noted for his skill and speed in an era before anesthetics, when speed was especially important. A typical Liston knife had a long thin blade.
label: Description
content: This example has a "GEMRIG / PHILA" inscription.
label: Description
content: This knife was part of an almputation surgical set which belonged to Lt. Col. William Irvin Wolfley, Surgeon in Chief of the 62nd Ohio Infantry. Dr. Wolfley was attached to DeRussey's Division of the Army of the Potomac, and was in charge of the convalescent camps along the Potomac from Chain Bridge to Alexandria, Virginia. This overall set has sixty instruments, the majority of which were manufactured by Jacob H. Gemrig of Philadelphia. Twelve instruments in this set were made by Otto & Reynders whose shop was at 64 Chatham Street in New York City, and one was made by Codman and Shurtleff of Boston, Massachusetts. Sets containing different instruments from different manufacturers were common as surgeons often simply replaced instruments that were broken or lost.
label: Description
content: Jacob Gemrig whose company made this instrument was a German immigrant who had experience as a cutler, an individual who made knives and scissors. After immigrating to the United States, Gemrig began making medical instruments in the 1840s. In the 1860s, he won a major contract to supply medical instruments to the Union Army.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
label: used
content: United States: Virginia
topic: label: associated subject; web subjec
content: Surgery
label: associated subject; web subjec
content: Surgical instruments
label: related event
content: Civil War
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
label: See more items in
content: Health & Medicine
label: See more items in
content: Civil War Surgical Sets
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Elizabeth F. Wolfley, Eleanor Wolfley Bisell, Caroline Wolfley Shannon and Elizabeth Wolfley Harman
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MG.112986.01.15
label: accession number
content: 112986
label: catalog number
content: 112986.01.15
label: catalog number
content: M-02999
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Knife
label: Object Name
content: knife
label: Object Name
content: surgical set
label: Other Terms
content: Knife; Cutting Tool; Amputationol
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal, steel (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood, ebony (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 5/8 in x 13 1/2 in x 7/8 in; 1.5875 cm x 34.29 cm x 2.2225 cm