Martin van Butchell (1735–1814) was an eccentric British dentist who put his dead wife on display, reputedly because of a clause in a marriage contract.
Career
Butchell practised as a dental quack in the 1770s London and travelled around on a white pony, painted with purple spots.
He advertised in St. James's Chronicle with a text: "Real or Artificial Teeth from one to an entire set, with superlative gold pivots or springs, also gums, sockets and palate formed, fitted, finished and fixed without drawing stumps, or causing pain."
When his wife Mary died on 14 January 1775, he decided to have her embalmed and turn her into an attraction to draw more customers. He contacted his teacher of surgery and anatomy Dr. William Hunter and Dr. William Cruikshank who agreed to do the job.
Doctors injected the body with preservatives and color additives that gave a glow to the corpse's cheeks, replaced her eyes with glass eyes and dressed her in a fine lace gown.