Coil of dried eel skin, United Kingdom, 1880-1930

Made:
1880-1930 in United Kingdom
Coil of eel skin strip, amuletic worn round finger to cure Coils of eel skin Front image (A665597)Head of eel skin, amulet

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Coil of eel skin strip, amuletic worn round finger to cure
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Coils of eel skin
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Front image (A665597)Head of eel skin, amulet
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Coil of eel skin strip, amuletic worn round finger to cure, ward off cramp, probably English, 1880-1930

The growing influence of biomedicine in the 1800s did not necessarily replace established forms of treatment based on belief and superstition. What could be referred to as folk medicine – customs that often went back generations – continued to be practised. For example, eel skins wrapped around the finger to ward off cramp were a Scottish medical tradition. The eel had first to be killed, skinned and then dried out to keep its coiled shape. Garters of eel skin around the thigh were also worn in Suffolk to prevent rheumatism and cramp. It is shown here with a similar example (A665586).

Details

Category:
Ethnography and Folk Medicine
Collection:
Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
Object Number:
A665585
Materials:
skin, eel
Measurements:
overall: 63 mm 31 mm,
type:
eel skin