AQ TARAXAC
date: label: date made
content: 18th century
notes: label: Description
content: This square shaped glass bottle is marked <i>AQ TARAXAC</i>. It would have held the root and leaves of the dandelion which were used as a tonic and diuretic.
label: Description
content: There are 347 glass drug containers in the Bristol Myers Squibb Collection. The labels and ornamentation applied to the surface of the glass are of two types, baked enamel and cold painted decoration. The more permanent of the two techniques, baked enamel, uses pigments composed of finely ground glass. The decoration is then fired into the surface of the vessel. Cold paint decoration is far more fragile. The paint is applied to the glass and is protected by a thin wash of varnish. The paint is easily scratched, and over time can begin to flake.
label: Description
content: Most of the BMS collection is decorated with baked enamel baroque shields framed with ribbons and capped with crowns and the flora and fauna of the rococo style. The glass containers in the Bristol-Myers Squibb Collection were produced in the glass houses of the German forests. Windows, drinking vessels, beads and laboratory apparatus are among the products the glass houses turned out. Apothecary containers, utilitarian utensils were <i>second rate</i> goods, made by craftsmen, not artisans.
label: Description
content: Many glass houses sold their products directly to the consumer, and specialized styles and labels could be made for a particular apothecary. Gaffers, or glass blowers, created the containers. Enamellers, many of whom were itinerant workers, traveled throughout Europe from one glass house to another, painting the labels and decoration onto the glass. The provenance of a glass jar or a particular glass house can be difficult to determine. Although individual glass houses, gaffers and enamellers are difficult to identify, it is sometimes possible to recognize an apothecary by its crest or by a particular decorative motif incorporated into the design. Glass drug containers were standard in 17th and 18th century German apothecaries, but are rare today because of their inherent fragility.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: unspecified
content: Germany
topic: label: Subject
content: Pharmacy
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
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content: European Apothecary
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content: Health & Medicine
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content: Art
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Urdang, George and Ferdinand William Nitardy. The Squibb Ancient Pharmacy: A Catalogue of the Collection
label: Related Publication
content: Margaret B. Freeman. Herbs for the Mediaeval Household
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of American Pharmaceutical Association and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1991.0664.0171
label: accession number
content: 1991.0664
label: catalog number
content: M-05319
label: catalog number
content: 1991.0664.0171
label: collector/donor number
content: SAP 28
objectType: label: Object Name
content: bottle
label: Other Terms
content: bottle; PHARMACEUTICAL CONTAINER
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: glass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paint (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: white (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: blue (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: black (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: red (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: yellow (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: blown (overall production method/technique)
label: Physical Description
content: rococo (overall style)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 18 cm x 8.2 cm x 8.1 cm; 7 1/16 in x 3 1/4 in x 3 3/16 in