Cleveland Museum of Art

Pharmacy Bottle

Date

c. 1500–1510

Medium

tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)

Culture

Italy, Papal States, Faenza

Department

Decorative Art and Design

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Pharmacy bottles that lined the shelves of Renaissance pharmacies often held medicinal herbs, spices, and ointments. The inscription on this bottle reads SCABIOS, or “scabious water,” which may refer to a teasel root compound that was used to clean and decontaminate velvet. During the Renaissance, aristocrats tested the speed and agility of their greyhounds in a sport called "hare coursing."

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