Object number
59/380
Description
This is a wooden fleam mallet, used by butcher when slaughtering animals by bleeding them to death. The mallet would be used to drive a fleam into the jugular vein to sever it. It was last used circa 1809 by a butcher called Letherbarrows in Banbury, Oxfordshire, and was given to the donor by his great grandson.
Physical description
fleam mallet: wood
Label Text
Fleam mallet. Last used in c.1809 by a butcher in Banbury, this fleam mallet was a butcher's tool for slaughtering animals by driving a fleam into the jugular vein. However, fleams were more commonly used for bloodletting as a veterinary practice. Treating unwell people and animals with bleeding is an idea dating back to Ancient Greece, where it was suggested that having too much blood in the body led to an imbalance of 'bodily humours'. Bloodletting rarely helped the patient, and was phased out in the 19th century.
Production date
1800 - 1800
Object name
Material
Associated subject
Associated person/institution
External document
- L:\MERL\Objects\JISC 2012\60 series negatives\60_2894.tif - High resolution image
