Memorabilia highlighting the work of the medical profession in times gone by

Our local antiquest expert Allan Blackburn looks back at a time when many had to rely on pharmacists for their medical care...
An antique medicine cabinetAn antique medicine cabinet
An antique medicine cabinet

Our wonderful NHS is stretched this year like no other, so it's timely to celebrate a ground-breaking anniversary.

Florence Nightingale was born 200 years ago this very week. Not just ‘the lady with the lamp’, her legacy lives on today as the founder of modern nursing.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Before the advent of hospitals, only the rich could afford doctors, while the rest relied on apothecaries, who became today’s pharmacists. Their pills, potions, remedies and equipment make up a fascinating and evocative strand of medical memorabilia.

Tools included the mortar and pestle, pill moulds and cutters, leech jars, scales, and ceramic and glass bottles, to name but a few. When manufacturers like Wedgewood and Spode became involved, even basic bottles became beautiful objects in themselves.

Today apothecary and pharmacy items are collectable for many reasons. The obvious kitsch factor of wild health claims, labels advertising now illegal substances, and elegant objects for ordinary creams are a few of the draws.

Initially, barbers dispensed medicine in square or globe-shaped bottles with elongated necks, known as ‘carboys'. Large, ornately faceted examples with their original stoppers can be worth £500 - £1,000.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

As standards increased, so did competition. Particularly popular were tonics, which proffered a cure for many ailments all in one go. Attractive bottles, labels and aspirational (or delusional!) adverts persuaded people to spend their meagre earnings on these unproven mixtures, all very collectable today.

Smaller medicinal bottles often have gilt, painted, or applied labels with the name of the contents. Values vary from around £10 - £50 for a clear example, up to £100 for a blue glass version with a gilt label, to over £200 for the rarer ceramic examples.

Highly sought after curios are doctors’ travelling chests and cabinets.

These elegant wooden cases open into worlds of wonder, with cubbyholes and drawers containing all manner of potions and tonics. This splendid example is in the centre at the moment.

Healthcare has advanced light years over the last century, but these fascinatingly labelled curios retain a nostalgic, almost magical, appeal.