THE ALBARELLO
A jar with a waist
The V&A describes the albarello as a tall jar for dry preparations, with a slim waist that could easily be grasped on the shelf.
Read a jarOld pharmacies were lined with painted pottery.
For centuries apothecaries stored their stock in tin-glazed earthenware jars, often with the contents painted on a scroll. Today these drug jars sit in museum cases, and their shapes and lettering tell you how a shop once worked.
Updated
Read a jarTHE SHORT ANSWER
Shape for the shelf,
paint for the name.
A drug jar had two jobs:
to be picked up easily, and to show what was inside.
THE WET JAR
Foot, handle and spout
Jars for 'wet' drugs such as syrups had a narrow foot to pull them from a row, a handle to tilt them and a spout to pour.
How they were made
THE WINDOW
Carboys and globes
Big glass vessels filled with coloured water stood in chemists' windows to advertise the trade inside, much like a barber's pole.
See the datesREAD A JAR
What does
the jar tell you?
Pick an object from a museum collection to see what it is and how it is marked. The bar shows how clearly the object names what it held.
Objects described from the V&A collections database, The Pharmaceutical Journal's RPS museum treasures series and the Dittrick Medical History Center.
TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING
Old jars,
two standard shapes.
One date for the oldest jar here,
one count of the shapes England made.
1435–1475
Date range of the Valencia albarello
A tin-glazed earthenware drug jar painted in cobalt blue and lustre, made in Valencia, Spain. A similar jar with the same apothecary's symbol is in the Louvre.
OLDEST HERE · V&A
2 types
Standard drug jar types made in England
The albarello for dry preparations and the footed jar for wet drugs. The V&A says both were made continuously in England from the late 16th century.
ENGLISH DELFTWARE · V&A
The V&A says that by 1800 delftware had given way to Staffordshire pearlware, that some Derbyshire brown stoneware drug pots followed by the 1830s, and that labelled glass bottles gradually took over during the 19th century.
FOUR THINGS TO LOOK FOR
Next time you pass
a museum case.
These clues come from the way the V&A catalogues its drug jars. They help you tell what a jar was for and roughly where it came from.
The outline
A slim waist means an albarello for dry stock; a foot, handle and spout mean a jar for syrups and other wet preparations.
The scroll
Look for a painted scroll or riband. It may carry an abbreviated Latin name, an apothecary's mark, or nothing at all.
The rim
Flanges on the rim let a paper or parchment cover be tied on, which is how jars were sealed.
The colours
The V&A says cobalt blue was essential for lettering pharmacy jars. Its records also note lustre, green and yellow on some jars.
HOW THEY WERE MADE
Tiles, then
pharmacy jars.
The V&A says the first Netherlandish potters to make delftware in England aimed specifically at two markets: floor tiles and pharmacy jars. Both could be painted with cobalt blue and other oxide colours, which made it possible to letter a jar.
In the window, things were more theatrical. The Dittrick Medical History Center says show globes, lit with a lamp and a mirror, worked as signage much like barber poles. The Pharmaceutical Journal notes that today's carboys are usually filled with food colourings, as many original colours used hazardous chemicals.
Questions
Questions people ask
What is an albarello?
A tall pottery jar with a slim waist, used for dry preparations in old pharmacies. The V&A says the waist let it be grasped easily on the shelf.
Why are some drug jars labelled and others blank?
Many have the contents painted on a scroll. Blank ones were occasionally made so a jar could serve more than one purpose, with the name written on a paper label or the parchment seal instead.
What does tin-glazed earthenware mean?
The V&A catalogues these jars as tin-glazed earthenware. One Deruta albarello, for example, is covered outside with a white tin glaze and inside with a clear lead glaze. In England this ware is known as delftware.
What were carboys for?
Advertising. The Pharmaceutical Journal says these large glass vessels were filled with coloured water mimicking chemicals in solution and displayed in chemists' windows as glass-making improved in the 1700s and 1800s.
When did pottery drug jars go out of use?
Gradually. The V&A says delftware gave way to Staffordshire pearlware by 1800, and that labelled glass bottles of prepared medicines became available during the 19th century.
Sources
Where the facts come from
- V&A: Drug jar for syrup of quinces, London, about 1675-1685
- V&A: Drug jar (albarello), Valencia, 1435-1475
- V&A: Drug jar with coat of arms and blank scroll, Deruta, 1530-1550
- V&A: Drug pot inscribed 'Isopus humida', Castelli, 1550-1575
- The Pharmaceutical Journal (RPS museum treasures): The carboy, a pharmacy icon
- Dittrick Medical History Center: The colourful history of show globes
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