A tin antique ear trumpet referred to as Miss Green’s ear horn with a large flat collecting dish which was popular at the turn of the century.

In general the larger the receiver the more sound the hearing aid could channel, so presumably this device was an effective one, made slightly more portable by coming in two pieces. The ear trumpet in this example is made from tin solder and is probably older than the one pictured in Armstrong’s 1901 catalogue.

• From the Phisick collection