Dentist and Patient Caricature, 1797

An 18th century caricature of a fat dentist with his struggling, overweight female patient. The patient is begging the dentist not to pluck her teeth out as he would the feathers of a pigeon. Large amounts of sugary food can cause obesity and tooth decay. Image drawn in 1797 by British artist Isaac Cruikshank (1756-1811). This caricature, called A pair of Wirtembergs; or, the little Wiltshire dentist easing Faro's little daughter of the tooth-ache, is also a satire on gambling among English aristocracy. The stout woman is named Lady Buckinghamshire. Private gambling over cards (at faro tables') by aristocratic women (who could not gamble in public) was seen as a social vice representing the general moral decay of upper-class women

Restrictions Only for Ireland and United Kingdom

1700s 1797 Aristocrat Aristocratic Buckinghamshire Cruikshank Decay Dental Dentist Extraction Faro Gaming Isaac Moral Obese Overweight Stout Tooth Toothache

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