Artwork Page for Pharmacy Bottle

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Pharmacy Bottle

c. 1500–1510

Italy, Papal States, Faenza

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Medium
tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)
Measurements
Overall: 38.8 cm (15 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1943.52.2
Public Domain
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Location
118 Italian Renaissance
Print
?

Did You Know?

The peacock feather design lining the bottom of this bottle was especially popular in Faenza, near Bologna, during the Renaissance.

Description

Pharmacy bottles that lined the shelves of Renaissance pharmacies often held medicinal herbs, spices, and ointments. The inscription on this bottle reads CAPILLV, which was a liquid extracted from a fern-like plant commonly referred to as “maiden’s hair water.”
A tin-glazed earthenware vessel, glazed in green, orange, blue, and cream, features a bulbous body and a long, narrow neck. Centrally, a pale blue, dog-like creature with a yellow collar runs across a green and orange landscape, baring its teeth. Below the animal, the letters CAPILL V are painted in dark ink. Muted leaf-like patterns wrap around the neck and base of the bottle.

Pharmacy Bottle

c. 1500–1510

Italy, Papal States, Faenza

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