Apothecary Glass
English Apothecary Vials
Early English glass apothecary vials 16th - 17th century
Walt Riglings' article Glass Apothecary Vials pictured a delightful world of miniature vessels full of charm and character, mainly from Europe and including free blown forms from the Roman Empire. The introduction of glassmaking to Northern Europe through the spread of the Roman Empire started a tradition that maintained its hold both culturally and economically for over a millenium and a half, long after the demise of the Romans.
Glassmaking in the British Isles may have taken place during Roman times. It was certainly established in the weald of Kent by the 14th century, initiated by continental European glassmakers who brought with them a store of useful knowledge, ideas, and designs. Amongst this variety was the common small vial used for medicinal and other utilitarian purposes. These early vials and small bottles are extremely rare and known mainly through fragmented remains.
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The unusual vial on the left is an early example of an English apothecary vial, made possibly as early as the 1550's or even earlier. The tall conical basal push up (in the bottom) and the lip shape testify to an early provenance. It is two and five eigths inches tall, dark aqua glass with the iridescence of age. |
By the mid 16th century the forms of these vessels were stylistically moving away from continental patterns and developing characteristics that would identify them as specifically English. By the 17th century a distinctly Anglicized and diverse range of vial shapes were being produced in English glasshouses. Certain similarities remain between English and European forms, notably the basal profile and kick-up, where were often conical or dome shaped with a similar pontil scar.
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On the left are two early 17th century English vials, the first from around 1620 - 1640; the one on the right a little later from around 1650-1680. The lip form on the second one is more distinctly flared into a horizontal profile. The sizes are three and five eighths inches and two and three quarters inches; colours aqua on left, pale olive green with a subtle iridescent patination on right. |
Early European forms have lip and mouth profiles very similar to Roman unguentaria or balsamaria: they have a flared or everted top with an inner folding over the lip. In later European examples the lip form is clearly everted without any folding over, and this became a constant characteristic of continental vials. A distinctive trait of the lip of English vials was this nearly horizontal, flattened, flared-out disc shaped profile, like the olive green bottle above. Although there are atypical examples, most 17th century English vials have this feature. Their shapes display a wide variety whilst colour ranges from pale to dark; olive green to aqua green to blue. They are often rather crudely shaped, although some examples display extraordinary delicacy and skill in their creation.
Although hundreds of these small common purpose vials must have been made over the centuries few have survived. In this respect they are rare.
There was a practice in Britian of planting a bottle underneath the stone flags of a doorway to ward off evil or mischievous spirits. It probably contained some special ingredients for the purpose. For similar reasons, vials have been found hidden underneath hearthstones and beneath windowsills, behind old fireplaces and in crevices and niches in old buildings. This is a fortunate source of some of the bottles pictured in this collection. The others came from excavations, collected by the author over the past thirty years.
The collection represents my personal fascination for these enigmatic small vessels. They have a special place in the history of post-Medieval glassmaking, linking ancient forms from a long tradition of wood-fired furnaces, to new methods using English coal that originated in the early 17th century. In this respect they retain a sense of their truly ancient origins in the glass vessels of the Roman Empire. They compliment their larger black glass cousins: the utilitarian bottles of the 17th through the 19th centuries.
Here is a set of pictures of a selection from my collection, covering the 16th to 19th centuries.
Above: Figure 2: 17th-18th century apothecary vials. From left to right:
1: Tiny crudely-formed vial in darkish aqua glass, from circa (about) 1690-1700. Height 1.625"
2: Exceptional condition dark olive green vial from around 1740-1750, regular body with small conical kick-up and horizontal flared lip. Height 2.25 inches.
3: Very crudely-made dark green vial from around 1700-1720 with an unusual shaped lip. Three inches high.
4: Mid-olive green glass vial from around 1720-1730, unusual square shouldered form with a rather stocky neck and flared lip. 2.75 inches high.
5: Small vial in aqua glass from around 1740 - 1750, 2.625" tall.
Above: Figure 3: 17th century apothecary vials. From left to right:
1: Small globular bodied vial in dark olive-green with flattened sides, forming a rather square cross-section. From about 1650; 1.375" high.
2: Exceptionally rare miniature shaft and globe form in dark aqua green glass with contents residue and original cork, from about 1650. 2.625" high.
3: Small globular bodied vial, similar to number one, but in a paler aqua green glass, from circa 1650. 1.625" high.
Figure 4: 17th century shaft and globe form apothecary vessels. From left to right:
1: Rare Shaft and Globe form in dark aqua green glass from circa 1650. Height 2.625"
2: Rare Shaft and Globe form from about 1680 or perhaps earlier, in darkish aqua glass 3.5" high. This exceptional bottle was recovered from a ploughed field in County Durham, England in the early 1980's.
3: Rare aqua glass Shaft and Globe vessel possibly from about 1670. Height 4".
Figure 5: 17th - 18th century glass bottles. From left to right:
1: Unusual dark aqua glass vial with tapered body and conical kick-up, distinctive horizontal flared lip. from around 1720-1730; 3.625" high.
2: Exceptionally good condition tall tapered vial, mid to dark olive green colour from circa 1740. 5.5" high.
3: Tall tapered-bodied vial in exceptional condition; slightly earlier in date than number 2, circa 1720 - 1730. Height 5.25".
4: Bulbous dark aqua vial - possibly a section of an hour glass from circa 1690 - 1700. 3.375" tall.
Above: Figure 6: 17th - 19th century small bottles and apothecary vials. From left to right:
1: Unusual form small vial in dark olive green glass from 17th-18th century. A difficult vessel to date as I have never seen another example like it. 2" high.
2: Rare and unusual small vial/bottle from around 1620 - 1640, in very dark olive green glass. Height 2".
3: Cylindrical bodied vial from circa 1650 - 1670 height 3".
4: Small crudely-formed 17th century vial from circa 1640 with unusual lip form. 2.375" high.
5: Small vial from around 1790 - 1810. Height 2".
Above: Figure 7: 18th - 19th century square section vials. From left to right:
1: Darkish green glass with square section body from circa 1810-1820. Height 3.75".
2: Late 18th century aqua glass square-section body vial from circa 1780. Height 4.625".
3: 18th century square section body from circa 1780. Height 4.125".
Above: Figure 8: 17th century vials. From left to right:
1: Late 17th century (1680-1700) darkish aqua glass vial with horizontal profile flared lip, slightly tapering body, and tall kick-up. This was an excavated bottle.
2: Late 17th century (1680-1690) aqua glass vial with flared lip and slightly tapering body, in exceptional condition. Height 2.375".
3: Mid 17th century (circa 1650) exceptionally fine vial, height 3.125". It was recovered from a timber-framed Manor House during restoration work.
4: Late 17th century (about 1690-1700) dark aqua green glass, exceptionally fine small vial. Height 2".
Above: Figure 9: 17th - 18th century vials. From left to right:
1: Late 17th century vial (1680 - 1690) tapering from base to shoulders. The flared lip is almost as wide in diameter as the widest part of the body; exceptional. Height 2.75".
2: Fairly large cylindrical bodied vial in dark aqua green glass, exceptional condition with a deep kick-up, from circa 1730-1740. Height 4.75".
3: Tall tapered vial in pale olive green glass (an unusual colour) from circa 1740-1750. 5.5" high.
4: Cylindrical bodied vial in dark aqua green glass with distinctive kick-up, from circa 1725 - 1730. Height 3.5".
Above: Figure 10: 17th - 16th century vials. From left to right:
1: Tiny late 17th century vial (circa 1690) in darkish aqua glass. 1.625" tall.
2: Small aqua green glass vial from circa 1760 - 80. Height 2".
3: 18th century cylindrical-bodied vial from circa 1740 - 1750. Flared lip and deep conical kick-up. Height 3.25".
4: 18th century cylindrical-bodied vial circa 1750 - 1760, height 3.5".
5: Small vial in pale olive green glass from circa 1740-ish. Height 2".
6: Small vial in pale aqua glass from circa 1770-1780. Height 1.625".
Above: Figure 11: 18th - 19th century vials. From left to right:
1: Pale olive green glass vial from circa 1780. 2.75" tall..
2: Cylindrical-bodied vial from circa 1740-1745. Height 3".
3: Cylindrical-bodied vial from circa 1740 - 45. Height 3.375".
4: Pale olive glass vial from circa 1800-1810. Height 3.625".
5: Cylindrical-bodied vial with high conical kick-up from circa 1760. Height 3.75".
David W. Barker of Elsecar, South Yorkshire, England has been collecting glass and stoneware bottles since the 1970's. He is a practising artist exhibiting his paintings internationally, and Course Leader in Fine Art Painting at Bretton Hall College, University of Leeds. He trained at the Royal College of Art in London.
If you are looking for glass vials, you can sometimes find items on offer on ebay.
Click here to see apothecary glass currently for sale on ebay.
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