“Popular print, satire … : The interior of a farrier’s smithy. A country woman sits on a low stool, while a farrier pulls at her tooth with a pair of pincers which he grasps in both hands. He presses one foot on her outstretched leg while a grinning assistant holds her head in both hands. A third man stands behind, also grinning and holding a stick above his head; one eye is bandaged. All three wear leather aprons. The wretched woman holds the tooth-drawer’s left sleeve with one hand, his nose with the other; her eyes are closed. A boy (left) flourishes a broom. Behind (right) is the lighted forge. An anvil, horseshoes, and farrier’s tools are in the foreground. A grinning face looks in through a wide-open window (left). Thatched buildings and trees are seen through the window.”–British Museum online catalogue.
- Title: The country tooth drawer [graphic].
- Publication: [Alnwick] : Printed and published by W. Davison, Alnwick, [between 1812 and 1817]
812.00.00.101
Acquired September 2019
The interior of a well-furnished room. The dentist stands in front of a middle-aged woman seated in a chair (right); he holds her forehead with one hand, with the other he applies a small instrument to her mouth. She grasps a shawl in her left hand. A black boy in livery stands behind the dentist (left) holding an open case of instruments; he looks round grinning. A young woman stands clasping her hands and looking with an expression of horrified concern at the operation. The dentist wears a bag-wig. A cat arches its back and meows. Through a draped sash-window is a steeple. On the wall is a bird in a cage and an oval landscape. Below it is a settee on which sheef of paper.
On a stage a man in a hat extracts a tooth from a patient as a clown taunts him; the audience on three sides of the stage look on with looks of horror or amusement.