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goldsmith and dental manufacturer.
Personal life
The second son of Sarjeant Ash (1754–1820) and Lydia Ash ''née'' Smith, Claudius Ash was born in
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heath Road. By ...
,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, on 2 March 1792. He married Sarah Butler on 11 March 1813 and had eight children, four of whom, along with other members of the Ash family and their descendants, were engaged in dental manufacturing or practised as dental surgeons. Claudius Ash’s family were members of the
silversmith
A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exactly synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product may vary grea ...
ing and
goldsmith
A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made silverware, platters, goblets, decorative and servicea ...
ing in the firm of Ash & Sons, 64 St James’s Street, Westminster. In about 1820 he was asked to apply his craftsmanship to making a set of
dentures
Dentures (also known as false teeth) are prosthetic devices constructed to replace missing teeth, and are supported by the surrounding soft and hard tissues of the oral cavity. Conventional dentures are removable ( removable partial denture o ...
. Up to this time, the majority of false teeth were made from
hippopotamus
The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...
or
walrus
The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the fami ...
ivory that was prone to discolouring, or from human teeth extracted from dead bodies, including battlefield casualties (thus known as ‘ Waterloo teeth’). Ash’s teeth, made of
porcelain
Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...
mounted on gold plates, with gold springs and swivels, were considered superior both aesthetically and functionally and laid the foundation of his new enterprise as Britain’s foremost manufacturer of dentures and dental appliances. Originally based in Broad Street (now Broadwick Street), London, the business expanded rapidly and by the mid-nineteenth century Claudius Ash dentures and dental equipment dominated the European market. Claudius Ash & Sons became an international company, in 1924 merging with de Trey & Company to form the Amalgamated Dental Company; it is now a division of Plandent Limited.
Further reading
* ''A Catalogue of Artificial Teeth and Dental Materials Manufactured and Sold by Claudius Ash & Sons, 7, 8, & 9, Broad Street, Golden Square, London'', 1865, Landkirchen: Pelican Publishing, 2000 (facsimile)
* Claudius Ash Sons & Co Ltd, ''A Century of Dental Art: A Centenary Memoir, 1820–1921'', 1921
* Elisabeth Bennion, ''Antique Dental Instruments'', London: Sotheby’s Publications, 1986
* Maurice David Kaufman Bremner, ''The Story of Dentistry'', Brooklyn: Dental Items of Interest Publishing Company, 1946
* Sydney Garfield, ''Teeth Teeth Teeth'', London: Arlington Books, 1972
* John Woodforde, ''The Strange Story of False Teeth'', London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1968
Notes
External links
Ash of Cannock (Ash family history website; currently offline – refer enquiries regarding Ash family history to
Russell Ash
Russell Ash (18 June 1946 – 21 June 2010) was the British author of the '' Top 10 of Everything'' series of books, as well as ''Great Wonders of the World'', ''Incredible Comparisons'' and many other reference, art and humour titles, most nota ...