CONANT’S AMPUTATING AND MINOR OPERATING SET
MADE BY TIEMANN CIRCA 1864 – 1886
I believe this is a rare set, I could not find another one online. A photograph of a similar set by Tiemann (with fewer instruments!) appears in James M. Edmonson’s book Nineteenth century surgical instruments : a catalogue of the Gustav Weber Collection at the Howard Dittrick Museum of Historical Medicine (Cleveland, Ohio : Historical Division, Cleveland Health Sciences Library, 1986). Conant was most likely a physician, who designed a more compact arrangement of amputating instruments. His design involved one handle, with removable and interchangeable saw and knife blades, which resulted in a much smaller-sized kit. George Tiemann was one prominent manufacturer who produced an amputation set according to his specifications – here are the contents of the set as shown in Tiemann’s catalog of 1872:
All but three of the metal instruments are marked with “Tiemann”, or “Tiemann & Co.”, and all but one are stamped with the Old English/gothic script font (one has the block-style font). This particular set is missing the bullet forceps, both scissors, the silver probes, tenotome, catheter, and Satterlee’s bone forceps. It has two additional instruments, a tenaculum and a trocar. The set was most likely a custom order, made to the specifications of the ordering physician.