20 December 2005

Give the Man a Hand


This is a prosthetic hand which seems to date to around WW1, and is one of the most beautiful pieces of craftsmanship I have ever seen. As a lover of great design and human ingenuity, I have to sit in awe of the work that went into this. The hand is currently on auction. (The photograph is used with kind permission of the owner.)

This item touches on so many things: the horrible damage that comes from war, the brilliant genius of the human mind to solve problems, the workmanship, the practicality, the attention to details -- and crosses so many timelines including the Industrial Revolution and the end of the Victorian era in England.

The maker is a company called Prothesia Ltd, from London. I have not been able to find any information about this company or this hand. I hope one of my readers can shed some light on this.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Speaking of hands: Why does the Hamburger Helper "Helping Hand" logo only have three fingers and a thumb?

Anonymous said...

Who invented that odd spoon-fork abomination called the "Spork"?