Apothecary vessel for wormwood oil

The presented majolica apothecary vessel comes from the collection of Mateusz Bronisław Grabowski (1904–1976). The tubular spout is placed on the opposite side of the handle, under which the date 1563 is visible, separated in the middle by the letter “A” (short for Latin anno – in the year). Below it, is a wide strip with the pharmacy’s signature, and even lower down, an armorial cartouche. The date with the monogram, the signature and the crest are surrounded by a colourful wreath. The pharmacy’s signature reads: OL(EUM)∙ABSINTII, which means wormwood oil. It was obtained from the Pontic wormwood (Artemisia pontica L.), also called the Roman wormwood. It was a cholagogue and a laxative, primarily recommended to combat endoparasitic infection. ID no.: KGZ 5926 Time of creation: 1563 Museum: The Museum of Pharmacy at the Jagiellonian University Medical College in Kraków https://muzea.malopolska.pl/en/objects-list/964 Digitalisation: RDW MIC, Virtual Małopolska project