Object Details
Description
This is a blue, yellow and green tin glazed waisted drug jar. The jar is decorated with a painted female mythological figure with a swan in one hand and flowers in the other, set against a landscape. On either side of the figure are vertical bands of foliage. An escrol above the figure is marked “THERIACA ANDROMACHI.” Theriac, an opium compound, was thought to be a panacea for a variety of diseases and an antidote for poison. Andromachus served as the Roman Emperor Nero’s physician, and this opium compound would have contained his formulation of the medicine.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of American Pharmaceutical Association and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
Date made
1700 - 1799
date made
18th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0646
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-05858
collector/donor number
SAP 570
catalog number
1991.0664.0646
Object Name
jar
jar, albarello
Other Terms
jar; Pharmaceutical Container
Physical Description
ceramic (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 27.7 cm x 16 cm; 10 29/32 in x 6 5/16 in
overall: 11 1/4 in x 6 1/8 in; 28.575 cm x 15.5575 cm
place made
Italy
Related Publication
Urdang, George and Ferdinand William Nitardy. The Squibb Ancient Pharmacy: A Catalogue of the Collection
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Medicine
Health & Medicine
European Apothecary
Art
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Subject
Mythology
Pharmacy
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_993466