PoD

‎3 different sets of Replica late 17th early 18th Century Cufflinks inspired by the ones found in ships that wrecked during the Golden Age of Piracy The silver ones are pewter, the gold one is some cheap metal but looks the part. $24 (includes shipping)

a 1653 Instrument chest: I assume the lower layer held the larger instruments

another view of the science museum pocket kit with some of the instruments in it:

I have just come across John Kirkup's The Evolution of Surgical Instruments; An Illustrated History from Ancient Time to the Twentieth Century on google books (or a section of it at any case). http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=eg_SpXBf4eIC&lpg=PR17&dq=The%20Evolution%20of%20Surgical%20Instruments%3B%20An%20Illustrated%20History%20from%20Ancient%20Time%20to%20the%20Twentieth%20Century%20pdf&pg=PA42#v=onepage&q&f=true I've also just found this picture of a surgical instruments case from the 18th century:

here's a dictionary of Stoke Dialect. Seems some of the words actually come from old english too: http://www.thepotteries.org/dialect1.html I thought I had a stoke accent but when I went to a school reunion there last year I was told that I talk posh apparently

I wonder if this is implying that the box is for dressings or if it is a box called a dressing box. From what I can tell a Dressing Box was a box used by travellers to store all their personal grooming items. I wonder if the Dressing Box on a ship was actually one of these but containing basic medical kit rather than grooming items. Theres an example of a later 19th century Dressing box here: Other than that I got to thinking. The only other type of medical box I am finding other than the large chest and the small instrument pocket case is the small folding door chests. Now these have space for all the stuff mentioned in a plaster box and are easily portable due to the handle on the top. These were definately around on ships in the GAOP in some form or another. Do you think maybe that these could be what they are calling a plaster box or do you thing its something else entirely? This is what i originally imagined the plaster box to look like. This is a ships one from 1845 though:

The group I am part of do the Barber-surgeon display for the public so I am basically looking at improving their kit. I am just making the Apothacary chest shown in the broadsheets and i'd like to do the plaster and surgical cases at some point too. I am not sure what instruments they have yet. I know they have a collection of larger tools such as a Bone saw, amputation knives and a clyster syringe but I dont think they have any of the smaller pocket kit type stuff. Other than that I just find the medical instruments really interesting and like to research them.

i was born and grew up in Stoke-on-Trent and even I cant understand their accent and dialect. Luckily its pretty much bang in the center of the UK so their probably werent to many Stokey sailors

ok I have just found this Broadside in the British museum with a picture of a dressing case Its the large oval one. Date 1701 Schools /Styles Dutch Description Title page to a tract entitled "De Ongerse Pallasch, de Boere Caraffa, en Hoerensmeerdoos", no. 18 in the series entitled "Esopus in Europa"; in the centre, an etching showing a table against which rest a pitchfork and flail, and on which is a peasant's flask, a sabre dripping blood, and a toilet set including two perfume bottles, a dressing case and a set of dishes containing face-patches of various shapes; hanging behind is a portrait of a young woman; on the right, a mounted drummer and trumpeter and in beyond cavalry cross a pontoon bridge and gallop towards a burning town. 1701 Looks more like a jewellery box to me though

Ahhh you know I read that once and completely forgot about the mention of the pots. Ok thats my next job to find a picture of one of them ha ha. Do you have any measurements for the "Plaisters ready spread" from any of your sources? This should give me an indication of what size box i am looking for.

yeah i might just do that. I can only find an illustrated audio book of it, however they manage to do that I dont know. Seems emplasters were basically a paste on silk or similar materials so they would get a few in that little drawer i imagine

I found this on the British History Online site: Plaster box [playster boxe; playster box; playstar box; plaister box] Not, as might be thought, simply a BOX containing PLASTER or plasters, but a complete kit for a surgeon. Randle Holme's illustration is not overly helpful, but his description compensates by its fullness. The surgeon's plaster box, he wrote, consisted of three parts; first of all the box itself, 'in which lyeth such Instruments as serve for present use, which are small ones only'. These included Spatulas, FLEAM, Directorie, Probe, Stitching NEEDLE and QUILL, LANCET, BORAX (or Burras) PIPE, Levitor and Uvula SPOON. The second component was the lid with a pouch in which to keep LINT, and the third the 'Drawer, at the bottom of the Box, in which are kept all the Plasters ready made, and are for any sudden occasion'. These 'Emplasters which this lower Box or Drawer doth contain, are at the least three or more several kinds, as Emplastrum Stipticum Paracelsi' (presumably EMPLASTRUM PARACELSI), Emplastrum Diachalcichos (presumably DIACALCITHEOS), Emplastrum de Lapide Calaminari, and EMPLASTRUM E MINIO (Emplastrum de Minio) [Holme (2000)]. Entries like '1 plaisterbox w'th som smal Instrum's therein' [inventories (1685)] fit Holme's description well. Some surgeons did have more complex equipment, for example, in the will of one, he left 'to my said Brother Richard Mayott my Plaster Box with the Instruments therein And my Salvatory and my Case of Lancetts with the Instruments therein' [inventories (1686)]. The term seems to have died out, and has not been noted after 1701 [inventories (1701)]. I am just trying to find this illustration that was by Randle Holme in his book The Academy of Armory written in 1701 but I am not having much joy. Reading that description though it almost sounds as if the small box in the post above is the actual plaster box rather than the pocket kit like we originally thought. If thats the case then I am wondering what the emplasters actually look like as I'd imagined them to be large bulky bandages. If this box is a plaster box then they mustn't be must larger than a modern day band aid

Do you have any physical descriptions for the plaster box rather than its contents?

Yep I love the instruments. I like the box thats on ebay at the moment but I cant afford to pay out that much for it.

the small box may well be like the one I mentioned above as I have just found another one here: Obviously i doubt that the general medical population had one this ornate though although the basic design may have been the same. The little drawer underneath would account for where the spatulas go seen in the broadsheet pictures http://www.antiquesc...rticles%203.htm ooooooooh look what I just found too: Surgical instrument case and instruments, English, 1650-1700. The case is made of silver mounted shagreen (fish skin), bearing the arms of the Barber Surgeons' Company. The instruments consist of scisors, a tongue depresor, forceps, probes, and lancets. The double-edged blades of the lancets are placed between tortoise-shell covers with inverted screws, they were used for opening veins for blood letting. The various sizes and shapes of lancet were used on veins of different sizes or locations. .....oops got a bit excited there.

Here is another picture showing a clearer image of the chest. From this picture it looks like the chest has 3 rows of 6 spaces which are the same size then a row nearest the front of the chest that is thinner than the rest. I wonder if this was how they were or if the artist just didnt space out the dividers properly in the drawing. I like the fact it shows the bottles as having spherical stoppers in them too

I was looking at the knife last night and I suddenly realised what the shape reminded me of. I had seen a 17th Century trade knife on my travels around the net and as it turned out it was Dutch too:

Thanks Wes. They should come in handy

First picture in my new Sailors short coat made by LadyBrower. It's a great fit and looks fantastic. I recommend her work to anyone.

If you have paypal you can message me your email and I can send you an invoice.

The painting is actually one of a set that shows dutch people celebrating the Siege of Namur which happened in 1695 (the same year as the prints were made). The Print was made by Cornelis Dusart and published by Jacob Gole. I like the knife in the 2nd print a lot too. It's my next project to make one. Looks like a standard rounded end rigging knife if you take into account that most people would wear a knife with the sharp part of the blade pointing down rather than up. The scabbard goes up onto the handle to hold the knife more securely and the bottom of it has a metal chape (brass probably judging by the fact it was popular with the Dutch at the time). I also just noticed that the sailors have their earrings in opposite ears which may suggest that they had both ears pierced.

One for all the Pipe smokers among the Bretheren. This is a Set of 4 Replica Early 18th Century Tobacco Papers or Wraps advertising the Brand of tobacco or the vendor that sells it. These papers were used to wrap and store the pre-chopped tobacco and examples of the papers can be seen in many period paintings and illustrations. The illustrations on the papers are copied from actual museum artifacts. Printed on period correct laid paper and they are the actual size of 130mm x 165mm in size unfolded. They are supplied folded and ready to put your tobacco into (tobacco not supplied). $20 (includes shipping)