Antique Three-Piece Trephine Set, Two Crowns and Elevator, 19th Century Skull Surgery

A three-piece trepanning group: a nickelled T-handle brace fitted with a toothed trephine crown, a second shorter shaft carrying a smaller crown with its projecting centre pin, and a flat steel elevator. The centre pin was set into the skull to stop the crown wandering as the surgeon began to cut, then withdrawn once the teeth had bitten their groove; the elevator turned back the scalp and stripped the periosteum beforehand. Trepanning is among the oldest operations in medicine and its instruments are among the most sought after of all surgical antiques.

Condition: sold as a study and display group. Both crowns have lost a section of teeth, with broken and chipped edges clearly visible in the photographs, and both show heavy brown oxidation and pitting to the steel. The shafts, chucks and T-handle are sound, and the elevator is in good order. Priced to reflect the damage.