Key Points
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Describes one of the most important historical records of dentistry surviving from the Georgian period.
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Enlarges on the meaning of J. M. W. Turner's painting of a dentist's rooms.
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Suggests real life models for his characters.
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Discusses the place of dentistry in Georgian society.
Abstract
In November 2002, the BDA News carried an item,1 illustrated with a colour reproduction, describing a painting of a Georgian dentist's rooms by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), one of the most respected of English artists, which was shortly to come up for auction at Christies' Rooms in London. This work, first exhibited in 1808, was entitled The unpaid bill, or the dentist reproving his son's prodigality (Fig. 1), and had originally been commissioned by the connoisseur Richard Payne Knight (1750-1824). The examiner, a contemporary London journal, identifies the 'cradle-piece' for the commission as being a Rembrandt which Payne Knight owned, and the journalist Robert Hunt said that Turner had more than come up to the task of showing that a modern could handle light as well as the old master,2 'for a picture of colouring and effect, it is ... inestimable'.3
J M W Turner R A (1775-1851) Oil on panel. 59.4x80 cm 1808. By kind permission, Christies' Images Ltd.
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References
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Acknowledgements
The assistance of Emma Strouts of Messrs Christies, Sara Taft at Tate Britain, Julian Tomlin of The Whitworth Art Gallery, the librarians of the Athenaeum, and especially of Roxanne Fea, formerly of the British Dental Association, is gratefully acknowledged.
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Bishop, M., Gelbier, S. & King, J. J. M. W. Turner's painting The unpaid bill, or the dentist reproving his son's prodigality. Br Dent J 197, 757–762 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.4811906
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.4811906
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