Claudius Ash

Claudius Ash (1792–1854), goldsmith and dental manufacturer. The second son of Sarjeant Ash (1754–1820) and Lydia Ash née Smith, he was born in Bethnal Green, London, on 2 March 1792 and followed his father into the profession of silversmith and goldsmith in the firm of Ash & Sons, 64 St James’s Street, Westminster.

Work

In about 1820 Claudius Ash was asked to apply his craftsmanship to making a set of dentures. Up to this time, most false teeth were made from hippopotamus or walrus 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 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 a 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

Personal life

Claudius Ash was a member of the Catholic Apostolic Church (Irvingites). 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 practiced as dental surgeons. He died in London on 3 November 1854.

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

External links

• Ash of Cannock (Ash family history website)
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry on Claudius Ash by Timothy Blatchford (subscription required for online access)