lancet, set; bloodletting
date: label: date made
content: 1838
name: label: maker
content: Ripsher, William
notes: label: Description
content: This silver lancet case belonged to Surgeon Jason Thomas and is dated 24 May 1839. The case is hinged and opens when the button on the side is depressed. It contains six thumb lancets with steel blades which terminate in a sharp point. Four of the lancets have tortoise shell handles, the other two lancets have mother-of-pearl sleeves. The case is engraved "Jason Thomas / Surgeon/ LLANBOIDY / 24 May 1839."
label: Description
content: The bottom of the case has four hallmarks and the initials WR for the maker. It is also stamped MAW on the bottom, probably for J. & S. Maw, a prominent London surgical instrument firm in the nineteenth century. One lancet (tortoise shell) is not marked; one lancet (tortoise shell) is marked, Evans London; one lancet (tortoise shell) is marked, S. Maw London; one lancet (tortoise shell) is marked, Weiss London; and the marks on the two lancets with mother of pearl handles are difficult to decipher. Additionally, the interior of one mother of pearl handle has been etched with the name Thomas. It is not unusual to find surgical cases with instruments from various makers. Physicians would routinely replace instruments when they broke or became worn.
label: Description
content: There is not a great deal of information about the owner of the lancet case Surgeon Jason Thomas. The name of the village Llanboidy in Carmarthenshire, West Wales where he resided is engraved on the case. According to the Pembrokeshire Record Office in Haverford West, Thomas was a property owner. His death is recorded as 25 December 1841.
label: Description
content: The makers mark WR belonged to surgical instrument maker William Ripsher (1801 - 1856). Ripsher first appears in the London registry in August 1834 for "small works." Small works might be a coaster, salt cellar, or in this instance a lancet case. The United Kingdom census of 1841 lists Ripsher as a silversmith. The census of 1851 lists Ripsher as a surgical instrument maker and gives his address as 24 John Street, London.
label: Description
content: The case was purchased in 1986 in London and given to Dr. Ewy who donated it to the Smithsonian in 2013.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United Kingdom: England, London
topic: label: Subject
content: Bloodletting
label: Subject
content: Surgical instruments
label: Subject
content: Surgery
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Gordon A. Ewy, M.D.
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2013.0278.01
label: accession number
content: 2013.0278
label: catalog number
content: 2013.0278.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: lancet, set
label: Object Name
content: bloodletting
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: silver (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 1/2 in x 1 3/4 in x 1/2 in; 6.35 cm x 4.445 cm x 1.27 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 7.7 cm x 1 cm x 5.1 cm; 3 1/32 in x 13/32 in x 2 in