Medical and Dental Collection

Foetus model, Friedrich Ziegler, Medical and Dental Collection

The Medical and Dental Collection contains many interesting artefacts which reflect the development of specialties such as anatomy, ophthalmology and dentistry, as well as objects which represent the development of the Medical School and medical education. 

Artefacts relating to the history of anatomy and pathology are particularly rich and include a rare group of late nineteenth and early twentieth-century anatomical wax models. These pieces were made by the eminent German model maker Friedrich Ziegler and relate to the history of embryology. They are still used for teaching the History of Medicine.

The Chamberlain Museum of Pathology surrounds a busy study area in the Medical School. The collection dates to the mid-nineteenth century and is still used for teaching pathology. Numerous paintings and sculptures displayed in the Medical School portray the college's history. These include portraits of distinguished physicians who played key roles in the development of the teaching and practice of medicine in Birmingham. Of note are two portraits of the school’s founder, William Sands Cox, and a bust of Professor Dame Hilda Lloyd, the first female President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.