L'Inconnue de la Seine

In the late nineteenth century, the body of a woman was pulled from the River Seine. Legend says that a pathologist was so enchanted, he commissioned a 'death mask' as a keepsake. Soon they were available for purchase, and no fashionable home was seen without. Laerdal was approached to make a practice doll for resuscitation, and remembered seeing the mask in his grandparents’ home, resulting in the 'Resusci Annie'.

This object is on display

Object type

Models

Date

Production: 20th century

Subject(s)

Portraiture
Education
Gender
Medicine

Associated activity

First Aid Training

Materials and technique

Plaster of paris

Related place(s)

Paris

References

Foakes, Tom, ed. Treasures: Faith, Care, Valour: Highlights from the Collection of the Museum of the Order of St John. Priory of England and the Islands of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, 2019.
Pages 116 - 117

Exhibition history

Forensics: The Anatomy of Crime, Wellcome Collection, 26 February 2015-21 June 2015

Catalogue number

SJA030417