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LicenseSurgeon's signboard, wooden, suspended from beam, English
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Surgeon's signboard, 'Midwifery', J. Short, wooden, suspended from beam, English, 18th century
J Short, a surgeon, used this sign to advertise his skills as a midwife. The sign would have hung outside his practice. It is symbolic of the changing nature of childbirth in this period. Once the preserve of local, female midwives, it increasingly became the territory of trained, male surgeons who were armed with an array of specialised obstetrical instruments.
Details
- Category:
- Surgery
- Collection:
- Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
- Object Number:
- A631388
- Materials:
- wood (unidentified), iron and paint
- Measurements:
-
overall: 590 mm x 1020 mm x 95 mm,
- type:
- sign
