Doctor Operating

Date1824-1830 (probably; see n. 1)

Possibly by Silas Cummings (1803-1882)

MediumWatercolor, pencil, and ink on wove paper

DimensionsPrimary Support; irregular: 9 5/8 x 7 13/16in. (24.4 x 19.8cm) and Framed: 12 3/4 x 10 5/8in.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1977.301.1

DescriptionThe sheet orginally functioned as the frontispiece for Dr. Silas Cummings Lecture Notebook (see 1977.1400.1).

In the center foreground, a man rests on the floor in a near-sitting position, his head propped up on a pillow on the seat of a ladderback chair. He wears long, light-gray trousers; a yellow, brown-striped waistcoat; and a white shirt with an elaborately-tied stock. His proper right shirt sleeve is pushed up on his arm, where a tourniquet is applied. Below this is a gaping wound in his arm, which the doctor, seated in a side chair, sews up with the aid of an assistant, who appears slightly to the rear. The assistant could be a small boy. Beside the assistant is a small table on which rests a large, decorated bowl having a base. Beyond this is a single, high, uncurtained window. The entire window area is shaded slightly with gray.

To the viewer's left, on the wall behind the doctor, is a set of hanging shelves, with books scattered over them and, on the bottom shelf, two jars. Text (see "Marks") appears below the book shelves. Across the top half of the picture, a drape is gathered at both corners and center by tassel ties, the untied drapery hanging to mid comoposition at the sides of the picture. The floor is a simple criss-cross grid pattern.

There is very little color throughout. Much of the figure outlining is done with dark brown watercolor or ink; some of the book spines are painted yellow with dark brown outlines; much of the watercolor, especially the dark brown, was applied with a dry brush.
Label TextThis fascinating glimpse of a nineteenth-century doctor's practice originally served as the frontispiece to Silas Cummings's book of medical notes, the bulk of which appear to have been compiled when the young man was a student at Dartmouth College, possibly beginning in 1824. After graduating from the school's medical department in 1827, Cummings apparently continued to use his class notes during his practice in Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire.

The stamped inscription below the hanging shelves may have been added later, so it is uncertain when the book's delightful frontispiece illustration was created (nor is it certain that Cummings himself executed it).

An assistant appears to hold a rag or sponge ready while his tailcoated mentor bends to the task of closing a laceration in the arm of a patient. Note the tourniquet applied above the wound. The injured man's vest is yellow with brown stripes, and some of the books on the shelves are yellow. Otherwise, only touches of red on the sponge or rag and in the wound add primary color to the picture; the rest of the composition is rendered in grays and browns.

InscribedIn ink at the top of the sheet is "I," and in ink at the top of the reverse of the sheet is "2."
MarkingsStamp-printed below the hanging shelves within the composition is "SILAS CUMMINGS./PRACTICE. AUGUST 1830." For information on watermarks found within the notebook from which this sheet was taken, see 1977.1400.1.

ProvenanceOwnership prior to Pottinger (AARFAM's source) is undocumented.