Albarello, a ceramic pharmacy vessel

Double-belly jar for preserving ointments, with a wide grooved rim for fastening a leather or parchment lid, probably Italy, 18 century

Dark brown Egyptian ointment (unguento aegiciaco, Kupfersauerhonig)  was produced by mixing vinegar, raw honey and verdigris and boiling the mixture over mild fire. The ointment had to be stored in a closed vessel to prevent deposition of metallic copper. The German surgeon Wilhelm Fabry (Guilelmus Fabricius Hildanus, 1560-1634) recommended the ointment for treating mouth ulcers in children, venerical diseases or ulcers in the throat; farriers used it to cure ulcers on legs of horses. The mixture recipe was attributed to the Persian physician Yuhanna ibn Masawaih (Mesues, ca. 777–857).

(NML Medical Museum, Inv. N. PH 3/ 972/XVIII-5. H 190, ⌀ 88 (lower), 125 (upper). Photo by dr. Ladislava Tahovska, PRO.MED.CS Praha plc.)