Front
Dr. Warner’s Lectures
Painting
circa 1864 – 1867 (Date manufactured/created)
Artwork
Measurement Notes: 14 1/8” x 18 1/8” without frame; 16 3/4” x 21 1/8” with frame
Ira DeVer Warner, dressed in black, lectures on a stage surrounded by pictures of human anatomy, human skeletons, skulls, and anatomical dummies. One of the backdrop paintings reads “Dr. Warner’s Catarrhal Douche,” a medical water system he sold to cure ailments of the nose and throat. It is a picture of Warner in action and his figure is the same size as, and seemingly as important as, the medical accoutrements that accompany him. Ira DeVer Warner graduated from medical school in 1867, after which he gave lectures around the country with his brother on hygiene and physiology. Warner was a successful, popular and humorous speaker, and in 1874, the brothers began to manufacture health corsets, founding the Warner Brothers Corset Company of Bridgeport. This is not a traditional portrait but perhaps was intended as an advertisement for Warner’s products or lectures.
Gift of Ira F. Warner
1975.108