Padded Belt and Pouches, Diderot Chirurgie Supplement Plate 1, circa 1778

An original antique copper engraving, uncolored, with eight numbered figures of surgical apparatus. Fig. 1 is a stitched, padded belt with a sliding loop from which a long tapering strap, T, divides into two tails, V and Z; a padded pouch, A B D, hangs from a small buckle, and further strap ends finish in tails and buttonholes. Fig. 2 is a deep oval padded cup and Fig. 3 a tall conical cup with an oval opening rimmed by a rolled edge. Figs. 4 to 6 are three long, flat, round topped boards, two pierced with a circular opening at the top, two fitted below with turned handles and one with a projecting tongue and a curved cross section. Fig. 7 is a slender rod ending in a figure of eight wire loop, and Fig. 8 a rod with an oval ring at one end and a small screw fitted frame at the other.

The plate number "Suppl. Pl. 1." is lettered at the top right, the section "Chirurgie." below the border, and the page number "144" at the lower left. No engraver's mark is lettered at the lower right.

The Encyclopédie of Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert was accompanied by volumes of engraved plates, the Recueil de planches. In the Livorno edition published by Giuseppe Aubert the plate volumes appeared between 1771 and 1778, with a supplement volume of plates in 1778 to 1779, the source of this plate. The Chirurgie plates set out surgical instruments, bandages and apparatus, keyed to an explanation in the text volume.

The row of tall boards gives the lower half of the sheet a strong rhythm that reads well framed with a plain mat.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.