M0019320: Cast of a four-bladed, bronze vaginal speculum, Roman

Previous title, replaced July 2022: Vaginal speculum, 4-bladed, bronze. Screw to separate and pull blades

Photograph of a vaginal speculum with a screw to separate and pull the blades. On turning the screw the upper blades separate and the lower blades are drawn downwards and outwards. It is a cast of the original found at Pompeii and now in the Naples Museum. It was presented to the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum in 1929 and accessioned in 1941 (accession number R293/1941)

January 1963

1 photograph sheet film negative; 10.2 x 12.7 cm

Wellcome Collection holds the accession register which provides an entry for the item: R293/1941

Copyright is held by Wellcome Collection

Catalogue data comes from a combination of entries in the original glass plate registers, metadata created when the glass plates were digitised in the early 2000s and enhancements made by the cataloguer in 2022.

Please consult the digitised version as this item is fragile. Email library@wellcomecollection.org to request access to the physical item.