RARE set, all 6 razor-sharp lancets still held within the elegantly crafted tortoise shell case, etui, just 3" in length and 1" in diameter. These were used in the practice of late 18th century to perhaps c.1820 medicine. Liimited in knowledge and science, quite primitive "bleedings" were thought to release infections or illness "humours" of which a patient suffered. You've seen in many times in period movies. The patient usually always dies. Antiseptics and antibiotics and even an understanding of germs would be decades and even centuries away. A 'surgeon', as doctors were called back then, would have little but bandages for wounds, a rudimentary knowledge of splinting or amputations of limbs, and not much good luck even with childbirth. We have come a very long way since that time. As has this set. Thoroughly sanitized, it is a rare glimpse of a period before modern science and of the very real limitations of science's knowledge. Also, a really beautiful rarity, museum quality. I've owned it for decades, along with a couple other lancet sets. This is the best of them.
Very good to excellent condition throughout. The tortoise shell handles/covers swing open on their swivels to become a handle, baring the very sharp blade (be careful!), and then slide back to cover it protectively. The set has all 6 in place, though 1 is, I'm quite sure, a replacement - not quite the same size/make. Each has its own fitting in the silver neck of the case. The case is also tortoise shell, and it is trimmed in a band of ivory and with an ivory round at the top of lid. Compact, elegant, historic.
IMPORTANT NOTE regarding antique tortoise shell or ivory: We are great supporters of protection for endangered species in our modern world. We never buy or sell anything 100 years or newer; we donate to anti-poaching organizations; we don't hunt; we conserve in ways that impact global warming (we're totally solar at home), knowing those measures also protect the animals in the wild today. We also recognize the vast cultural history we preserve with our care and reverence for these antique objects, and agree with CITES that objects over 100 years of age have nothing whatsoever to do with species depletion in our current world.
Our offering exceeds the age limitation of "more than 100 years of age", and is well within the exemption for CITES regulation. If imported, met the CITES regulation. This item will be handled and shipped from our Utah business, and is not available for shipment internationally, nor within the USA to California, NY, Nevada, Hawaii, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington if it contains ivory, sorry. Please see our small print for more details.
