Pair of Pharmacy Bottles
Unknown Artist
c. 1500–1510
Medium
tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)
Dimensions
h. 38.8 cm
Classification
Ceramic
Department
Decorative Art and Design
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1943.52
About this artwork
The inscriptions on these two pharmacy bottles suggest that they held medicinal and domestic remedies. One bottle reads SCABIOS, or “scabious water,” which may refer to a teasel root compound that was used to clean and decontaminate velvet. Inscribed on the other bottle is the word CAPILLV, which was a liquid extracted from a fern-like plant commonly referred to as “maiden’s hair water.”