'Openshaw' artificial wooden hand

Made:
circa 1919 in England
maker:
Anderson and Whitelaw Limited
"Openshaw" wooden carrying hand with a tenon thumb

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"Openshaw" wooden carrying hand with a tenon thumb
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

"Openshaw" wooden carrying hand with a tenon thumb. The index and middle fingers are articulated at the metacarpo-phalangeal and proximal inter-phalangeal joints. The ring and little fingers are rigid and slightly flexed with a steel palmar reinforcement, which extends into the palm. The wrist is oval with a screw fitment for attachment to the prosthetic arm. Made by Anderson & Whitelaw c.1919.

Openshaw wooden artificial hand. Designed by Thomas Openshaw, a surgeon at Queen Mary's Hospital, Roehampton, during World War I. A special feature of the hand is that the the ring and little fingers are held rigid, in a slightly flexed position, with steel reinforcement which extends into the palm. This allows bags and other objects to be carried. The thumb, index and middle fingers have a certain degree of articulation. The wrist is oval with a screw fitment for attachment to a prosthetic arm. Made by Anderson & Whitelaw, England c.1919.

Details

Category:
Orthopaedics
Object Number:
1999-591
Materials:
wood (unidentified) and steel (metal)
Measurements:
overall: 71 mm x 174 mm x 98 mm, .26 kg
type:
medicine, artificial limbs, artificial hands, prostheses and disability
credit:
Richmond Twickenham and Roehampton Healthcare NHS Trust