The Country Tooth Drawer – Antique Dentistry Caricature Engraving

In the 17th and 18th Centuries, the blacksmith’s forge was the recognized dental office and teeth which caused pain were regularly extracted by the village smithy. In this scene, a blacksmith, working in his forge, improvises dentistry using huge forceps to extract a patient’s tooth while a woman watches.  The theme of such tooth extractions was a popular theme of artists of the period.  Up until the 1860s, Dentistry was largely unregulated. Itinerant tooth extractors also earned money by attracting an audience.

Striking large-format copperplate engraving on laid paper after John Harris the Elder, published by Bowles & Carver in London around 1800. A copy of this engraving is held in the Wellcome Collection in London. Reference Link

Dimensions:  Approx 35 x 50 cm

Condition:  Very good. Trimmed to platemark.  Small tear around 1.5 cm in right margin. Light discoloration of paper.

The text below the image reads:  The Country Tooth Drawer – Printed for & Sold by Bowles & Carver – No 69 in St. Paul’s Church Yard, London

Why Dame how you hollow! and hold by my horn,
I never heard such a noise since I was born,
How you pinch up your hat, and squeeze up your eyes,
You’ve broke both the drums of my ears with your cries,
That I hurt you, you ne’er shall make me believe,—
It’s easy, as drawing a pin from one’s sleeve;
I challenge the Country for drawing you fool,—
I’ve drawn teeth with prongs like a three legged stool.
No doubt on’t, quoth Gaffer, and lifts up his hand,
Yet half of an hour is a great while to stand;
And tho’ you’re surprised to hear my Dame bawl,
Yet thrice round the shop is a pretty good hawl.

Notes on text:

• Hollow in the first line of Country is what appears to be printed. It is presumably an older or jocular rendering of “holler.”
• Hawl in the final line is also the printed spelling—a punning or nonstandard spelling of “haul.”
• The phrase “prongs like a three legged stool” refers to teeth with multiple roots, which would be particularly difficult to extract.
• Gaffer here means an older countryman—apparently the woman’s husband, who comments on how long the extraction has taken.