Patent Model: SS White 1875 Dental Drill
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Dimensions
Height 7
Circa
1875
Description
Until 1880 the US Patent Office required that all patent applications be accompanied by a model; in the case of mechanical objects by a working model. Almost from its inception the USPO was vulnerable to fires, with perhaps the most serious one being that of 1877, when 80,000 patent models were destroyed. Fortunately many survived unscathed and among them this 1875 model for a dental drill issued to S.S. White, this country’s most successful 19th-century manufacturer of dental instruments. Dental patent models are quite scarce. Until the Gary Lemen collection was sold in 2012 I had never seen one for sale. This one is ex-Lemen Collection. It was bought by Dr. Lemen in the 1960s as part of a small collection he came across in a Washington,DC antiques shop. The patent for the drill was issued on August 31, 1875 (No. 167,208). If you go to Google Advanced Patent Search and enter that number you can read the details of the submission.
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Dealer information
M and R Gordon
Michael and Roberta Gordon have been dealing in medical and dental antiques for more than four decades. They have helped build a number of major private collections and have contributed to the holdings of many museums. They also deal in other scientific and technology related items, including calculating instruments, office machines, patent models and wine-related accessories such as corkscrews. ROBERTA GORDON IS A SKILLED RESTORER WHO CAN HELP YOU WITH ANY INSTRUMENTS AND CASES THAT NEED ATTENTION. Feel free to contact them for details at: [email protected] or 718-541-5974
