Object Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
The Dentist |
Object Name |
Painting |
Object ID |
FA 2000.003.046 |
Description |
A foppishly-dressed dentist leans close to pull a tooth from a squirming patient while an older woman -- perhaps the patient's wife -- looks on from left. The painter has framed the scene with an illusionistic windowsill and curtain, as if the viewers peer inside the architecture -- Dou's trademark compositional device. On the sill sits a potted plant, dented metal basin, and conch shell. An alembic at bottom left, and a stuffed reptile specimen hanging from the ceiling, allude to this dentist's diverse pursuits or guises. |
Artist |
Dou, Gerrit, After(?) |
Date |
1600s |
Dimensions |
H-13.5 W-11 inches |
Material |
Oil Paint, Oak Panel |
Medium |
Painting |
Collection |
Eddleman Collection |
Digital Collections Link |
0.000 |
Search Terms |
Apothecaries Conch Shell Copper Basin Curtain Dentistry Dentists Distillation Distillation apparatus Flowers Older People Older Women Painting Patients Pliers Reptiles Seventeenth century Shells Tooth Pulling |
Provenance |
[possibly sale, Christie's, London, 14 May 1791, lot 33]. [1] [sale, Phillips, London, 1 July 1997, lot 199 (to Alfred Bader)]. Roy Eddleman (from Bader), 1997-2000. The Chemical Heritage Foundation, 2000 (from Eddleman). Notes: [1] Lot described as "A tooth drawer - a beautifully finished picture" by "Gerard Dou." The number of the lot, 33, is the same number that is handpainted on the back of the painting, but no supporting evidence for the connection has yet been identified. |