Eighteenth Century English Delftware Pill Jar; P: ALOEPHANG; London, c.1720.

Eighteenth Century English Delftware Pill Jar;
P: ALOEPHANG; London, c.1720.

Apothecary jars of this type are typically for the use of a dry drug in pill form. In this case Pilulae Aloe or Aloe pills; which was a prescribed purgative medicine in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

The jars contents label - Aloephang would seem to be a derivative of Aloephangina; an unusual antiquarian recipe containing aloe and a mixture of aromatics. Certainly this is a rare contents label and we can find no other parallel amongst the extensive records of eighteenth century drug jars.

This examples glazes and handling of the characteristic bird and basket design is most pleasing - indeed making any bitter pill easy to swallow.