An early field surgeon’s instrument kit, dating from the first quarter of the 19th century and the period of the Napoleonic Wars.

The fitted folding case contains eight surgical instruments, including scissors, forceps and probes, retained beneath individual leather straps. The compact format was intended to keep essential instruments together and readily transportable, making sets of this type particularly suited to military and travelling surgeons.

The case and instruments show the expected signs of age and use and retain considerable period character. An evocative example of early 19th-century surgical equipment from an era in which battlefield medicine remained both rudimentary and highly demanding.