Artwork Page for Medicine Bottle

Details / Information for Medicine Bottle

Medicine Bottle

薬瓶

1670s

Japan, Edo period

(1615–1868)
Medium
porcelain with underglaze blue decoration
Measurements
height: 41.3 cm (16 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Severance A. Millikin 1966.514
Public Domain
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Location
235A Japanese
Print

Description

While inspired by medicine jars used in European pharmacies, this bottle was likely decorative. It may have been exported by the Dutch East India Company, a powerful trading company from the Netherlands. In Japan, it operated from Deshima, a man-made island in Nagasaki harbor created in 1636. The initials “I. C.” appear on the base. As the letter J was often transposed with the letter I in Europe of the 1600s, some scholars believe the bottle may have been made for Johannes Camphuys (1634–1695), who was in charge of the Dutch East India Company’s operations in Deshima in 1671.

Medicine Bottle

1670s

Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

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