A French Dentist Shewing a Specimen of his Artificial Teeth and False Palates Possibly 1811

Thomas Rowlandson made this hand-colored etching in 1811. It depicts a French dentist displaying a model of artificial teeth to a potential client. This caricature tells us a lot about the social and cultural tensions of the period. Rowlandson was active during a time of intense political rivalry between Britain and France. The print plays into popular British stereotypes of the French as vain and decadent. The dentist, with his exaggerated features and flamboyant attire, embodies these stereotypes. Similarly, the grotesque exaggeration of the mouths and teeth satirizes the perceived superficiality of French society, obsessed with appearances, even to the point of resorting to artificial means. To fully understand this image, historians would need to delve into the social history of dentistry, exploring the development of dental technology and the rise of dental practices. We might also look at political cartoons and caricatures to understand the visual language of national stereotypes in the period. By examining these social and institutional contexts, we can gain a much deeper understanding of the image.