Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
2011.2 |
Object Name |
Tooth |
Title |
Supposed tooth of Benjamin Franklin, encased in gold acorn |
Description |
Gold acorn, with tooth embedded in it. The top of the case, made of soft gold, is shaped and finished to appear like the cap of an acorn, but is open to reveal the tooth. The rest of the acorn is of harder gold. The tooth is held in the case by paper. The tooth appears to be a molar (possibly the lower left second molar) and is in three parts. |
Label |
In the 18th and 19th centuries, keeping the hair or teeth of deceased family members was an important way of memorializing the dead. This tooth, purported to be Benjamin Franklin's, is mentioned in the 1810 will of Richard Bache, husband of Franklin's daughter Sally. In this will, Bache leaves the tooth to their son William. Since the will does not mention a case for the tooth, the gold acorn may have been added at a later date. The acorn may have been a watch fob or charm, although no loop or ring remains. In the mid-20th century, the tooth and case passed from Franklin’s descendants on the East Coast to descendants on the West Coast, in whose family it remained until its presentation to the APS. |
Material |
tooth, gold, paper |
Dimensions |
L-0.875 Dia-0.58 inches |
Credit line |
American Philosophical Society. Gift of Jean Starr and Allen Pergrin, January 2011. |
Search Terms |
18th century eighteenth century Founding Father jewelry mourning commemorative |