An antique tonsil guillotine or tonsillotome with a rare scissor mechanism. Closing the scissor grip advances the blade across the enclosed loop and at the same time closes and raises a pair of spiked forceps which would grip and hold the excised tonsils.

The blade is razor sharp and the delicate mechanism still works smoothly and would remove a tonsil as cleanly as it did 100 years ago. Signed by “Reynders & Co” who were quality instrument makers based in New York from the 1880s.

• From the Phisick collection