Case for phantom larynx

Case (including two rods that make up the stand, and the throat) for phantom larynx, unsigned, Europe, 1870-1916. Owned and used by Sir Thomas Lauder Brunton.

Illustrations of a healthy or a diseased larynx can be inserted inside the velvet mouth and behind the tongue of this unusual device. The model was used to teach students about the different diseases that affect this area. It was an attempt to replicate the view that a doctor would see when examining a patient.

The case is marked with the owner’s name “Sir Thomas Brunton Lauder” (1844-1916). Lauder was a distinguished British physician and pharmacologist who bequeathed a large collection of medical and surgical instruments to the Wellcome collections.