Tonsil guillotine

Made:: 1860-1880 in Paris

Tonsil guillotine, steel and ivory, by Robert and Collin, in leather case, c. 1870

Details

Category:: Surgery

Collection:: Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection

Object Number:: A612881

Materials:: steel, ivory, case, leather, case, brass and case, cotton

type:: tonsil guillotines

credit:: Penon

Cite this page

Rights

We encourage the use and reuse of our collection data.

Data in the title, made, maker and details fields are released under Creative Commons Zero . Descriptions and all other text content are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence

Using our data

Download

Download catalogue entry as json

Download manifest IIIF

Our records are constantly being enhanced and improved, but please note that we cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information shown on this website.

Parts

Tonsil guillotine, Paris, France, 1866-1870

Tonsil guillotine, steel and ivory, by Robert and Collin, c.1870

A tonsil guillotine is used to remove the tonsils in a procedure called tonsillectomy. Removing the tonsils was a treatment for recurrent throat infections. Tonsillectomy by guillotine, popular in the late 1800s, fell out of favour in the early 1900s due to the high numbers of people who experienced heavy bleeding and recurrent sore throats.

Robert and Collin, who made this item, were students of the famous surgical instrument maker Joseph-Frédéric Benoît Charrière (1803-1876). They purchased the business in 1866 after Charrière’s son, who had owned it from his father’s retirement in 1852, died. Robert left the business in 1870, leaving Collin as the sole owner.