Italy, Papal States, Faenza / c. 1500–1510
Pair of Pharmacy Bottles
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Pair of Pharmacy Bottles as ceramic (Italy, Papal States, Faenza · c. 1500–1510).
During the Renaissance, aristocrats tested the speed and agility of their greyhounds in a sport called “hare coursing.”
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this ceramic as tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica).
The museum's collection notes: 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.”
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtPair of Pharmacy BottlesOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.