American Civil War Medicine & Surgical Antiques

Surgical Set collection from 1860 to 1865 - Civilian and Military

Civil War:  Medicine, Surgeon Education & Medical Textbooks

 Dr. Michael Echols  &  Dr. Doug Arbittier

 

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Altered Surgical Instruments and Restoration

 By Dr. Michael Echols

When you deal with instruments that are over 100 years old, you have to expect to find some rust or discoloration.  In most cases, it is best to not clean or restore the instrument and leave them as history has presented them.  Restoration of metal can do more harm than good.  See restoration of wood surgical cases for additional information.

There are well meaning individuals who do clean instruments and in the process, destroy them.   In general, unless you are extremely well versed in restoration of antiques, the best policy is to do nothing to alter the metal.  A general oiling or cleaning is acceptable, but only for dirt, grim, or grease.  Removing age related patina is a major cause for damage and resulting decreased value.

The following set of photos illustrate the level of damage which someone can do in a machine shop with a grinding wheel or  sander.  The maker name 'Tiemann' has been completely obliterated on the shank of the blade of this amputation knife.  By comparison, see the photo on the right in which the metal is untouched and the full name remains as it came out of the factory.  My guess would be that someone was trying to hide the name so as to 'plant' the knife in a set which was not consistent with the Tiemann's name.  Dishonest at the least.

  

Altered                             Unaltered

Note the grinding marks on the altered blade on the left and only the 'nn' of 'Tiemann' remains.  On the right the full name remains.

These issues negatively change the value of instruments and surgery sets.

 

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Contact Dr. Arbittier with questions or if you have Civil War medical related items for sale

 

 

Civil War Medical Collections    Sitemap for entire website 

 

Direct links to all medical & Civil War collections on this site           

American Surgical Sets:

Pre-Civil War:  1 | 2  -   Post-Civil War:  3  -  Civil War 1861-1865:  4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8   INDEX

Medical Text-Books:

1 | 1a | 2 | 2a | 3 | 3a | 4 | 4a | 5 | 5a | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9a | 10 | 11 | 12    INDEX

Surgeon General's Office Library printed catalogues: 1840 | 1864 | 1865
Medical Lecture Cards: 1a | 1b 2 | 34 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21    INDEX

Medical Faculty and Authors:

INDEX

Navy Surgeon Exams:

1863 Navy Surgeon Applicant Exams with Biographies   INDEX ONE | INDEX TWO

Surgeon CDVs, Images

Surgeon's Medical Service Swords, and Pistols

Army: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8    INDEX    

M.S. Surgeon Swords and Pistols:  1 | 2 | 3 | 4  INDEX

Navy: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8   

Hosp Dep't Bottles, Tins, 

U.S. Army Pannier:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

American Civil War Medicine & Surgical Antiques

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Last update: Tuesday, February 01, 2022