Victorian era, Napoléon III era, mid-1800s surgical tools kit, necessaire, with an enormous number of tools intact within. Made about 1872, it is likely the set of a medical student studying in Paris - France having been a leader in medicine for centuries. We can't know if the student ultimately became a surgeon, and the very good condition of this set might indicate not or that it was not used beyond a surgery round in their medical education. Made with a gold-embossed notation of being for the school of medicine of Lille, France, by Charriere, 6, Rue d l'Ecole de Madeleine. Le Prefesseur, J. Parise. One might wish to research further with all of that information. I've owned many of these surgical sets over time, but none of this size or expansive number of surgical tools. Quite remarkable. There are 4 items with tortoise shell handles, as noted*. Our photos show all tools, some very neatly still in printing leather sleeves. Layers upon layers. Measurements on the photos, but it's a small sized etui or case, not quite 6" in length. RARE!
Very good to excellent condition for age and type, the immense number of tools are laid out over 2 of our photo panels for your review. Four have tortoise shell handles, and a couple of those I didn't press to open since whatever the tool is (I imagine scalpels) didn't readily wish to open. The old steel has corrosion, typical of regular steel before stainless steel existed. I have not tried to clean or polish any of those. A wonderful bit of history of medical science. The leather etui, case, necessaire is in very good condition and only the elastic to the clasp has stretched out losing its elasticity over the 160 or so years since it was created. Lots of photos to show in layer by layer.
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.
