Silver Ear Trumpet Hearing Aid, 1846

We are pleased to offer an extremely rare Victorian silver ear trumpet or hearing aid.

Made by Charles Shaw, this ear trumpet has an oval bell to allow in the maximum amount of sound and an extendable earpiece reached via a "double trumpet" of U-bends. This type of medical instrument is discussed and illustrated in Elizabeth Bennion's book "Antique Medical Instruments" (pages 227-230).

This form of ear trumpet is very rare in any material but in silver you hardly ever see them as they were so difficult to construct. Mulitple solder joints in close proximity to each other were necessary to assemble the components together and the untidy solder joints on this piece are symptomatic (we believe them to be original and not repairs). Allowing for these solder joints, the overall condition is excellent with the retractable earpiece working fine.