Anatomy at Large: Caspar Wistar’s Models

M. M.A. Hendriksen

doi:10.1086/718596

Anatomy at Large: Caspar Wistar’s Models

M. M.A. Hendriksen^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Research output: Contribution to journal/periodical › Article › Scientific › peer-review

Abstract

By the late eighteenth century, anatomical models were a relatively common phenomenon in European universities, medical colleges, and private collections. Usually made from wax or plaster and often approximately life-sized, they functioned as both educational tools and prestigious objects. Yet in the young American city of Philadelphia, professor of anatomy Caspar Wistar (1761–1818) decided he needed something different for his quickly expanding classes than the models he had seen while studying in Europe. He collaborated with the sculptor William Rush (1756–1833) and collector and artist Charles Willson Peale (1741–1827) and his son, the artist Raphaelle Peale (1774–1825). Together they created larger-than-life models of parts of the human head and neck, using an innovative mix of materials such as papier-mâché, wood, wax, and metal. The models were so well made that they were used for teaching into the twentieth century. This essay starts with a visual and material analysis of one such model and subsequently places it within the context of objects, people, practices, and discourse surrounding it to cast light on the importance of artisanal knowledge and skills for the development of Philadelphia as a center of medical education in the early nineteenth century.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	81-107
Number of pages	27
Journal	Know
Volume	6
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1086/718596
Publication status	Published - 01 Mar 2022

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10.1086/718596

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title = "Anatomy at Large: Caspar Wistar{\textquoteright}s Models",

abstract = "By the late eighteenth century, anatomical models were a relatively common phenomenon in European universities, medical colleges, and private collections. Usually made from wax or plaster and often approximately life-sized, they functioned as both educational tools and prestigious objects. Yet in the young American city of Philadelphia, professor of anatomy Caspar Wistar (1761–1818) decided he needed something different for his quickly expanding classes than the models he had seen while studying in Europe. He collaborated with the sculptor William Rush (1756–1833) and collector and artist Charles Willson Peale (1741–1827) and his son, the artist Raphaelle Peale (1774–1825). Together they created larger-than-life models of parts of the human head and neck, using an innovative mix of materials such as papier-m{\^a}ch{\'e}, wood, wax, and metal. The models were so well made that they were used for teaching into the twentieth century. This essay starts with a visual and material analysis of one such model and subsequently places it within the context of objects, people, practices, and discourse surrounding it to cast light on the importance of artisanal knowledge and skills for the development of Philadelphia as a center of medical education in the early nineteenth century.",

author = "Hendriksen, {M. M.A.}",

note = "Funding Information: The research for this essay was funded by the European Research Council under the European Union{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant agreement no. 648718) and a 2017 Wood Library Travel Grant from the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Parts of it have appeared before in blog posts. I would like to thank Beth Lander, Caitlin Anglione, Tristan Dash, Lowell Flanders, and the other staff at the Wood Institute and the M{\"u}tter Museum for their help in finding and accessing archival materials and museum objects; Jennifer Evans Stacey at the Wistar Institute for showing me their models; and Huong Tran at the Pennsylvania Academy for the Fine Arts for his help in finding and accessing archival materials. 1. The term “material literacy” was coined by Ann-Sophie Lehmann in her inaugural address to discuss the importance of an embodied understanding of materiality for art historical research, but its importance is evident for understanding virtually any art or craft, and it has since been adopted by historians of material culture. See Ann-Sophie Lehmann, “Cube of Wood: Material Literacy for Art History” (inaugural address, Groningen, 2016); and Serena Dyer, “Barbara Johnson{\textquoteright}s Album: Material Literacy and Consumer Practice, 1746–1823,” Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies 42, no. 3 (2019): 263–82. 2. Virginia Naude, “Conservation Report,” November 20, 1981, uncataloged folder “Anatomical Parts / Whereabouts Unknown,” 1980–81, in first of four boxes marked “David Brigham, Office files—Museum director{\textquoteright}s office,” Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (hereafter PAFA) Archive; PAFA, “Academy Minutes,” Pennsylvania, 1837 1805, PAFA Archive; and “Sculpture Techniques,” accession no. 2017.3, MS.2017.01, PAFA Archive. 3. Naude, “Conservation Report.” Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 The University of Chicago. All Rights reserved.",

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doi = "10.1086/718596",

language = "English",

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N2 - By the late eighteenth century, anatomical models were a relatively common phenomenon in European universities, medical colleges, and private collections. Usually made from wax or plaster and often approximately life-sized, they functioned as both educational tools and prestigious objects. Yet in the young American city of Philadelphia, professor of anatomy Caspar Wistar (1761–1818) decided he needed something different for his quickly expanding classes than the models he had seen while studying in Europe. He collaborated with the sculptor William Rush (1756–1833) and collector and artist Charles Willson Peale (1741–1827) and his son, the artist Raphaelle Peale (1774–1825). Together they created larger-than-life models of parts of the human head and neck, using an innovative mix of materials such as papier-mâché, wood, wax, and metal. The models were so well made that they were used for teaching into the twentieth century. This essay starts with a visual and material analysis of one such model and subsequently places it within the context of objects, people, practices, and discourse surrounding it to cast light on the importance of artisanal knowledge and skills for the development of Philadelphia as a center of medical education in the early nineteenth century.

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Anatomy at Large: Caspar Wistar’s Models

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