Description
Heading : Tunbridge ware salve
Date : c1850
Period : Victoria
Origin : Tunbridge Wells. Kent
Decoration : Central inlaid marquetry geometric star design with tessalated borders. Original glass liner.
Size : 2.8cm height. 3.5cm diameter
Condition : Good. no missing tesserae. there is a stable split running from the rim of the cover to the edge of the screw.
Restoration : None
Weight : 22 grams
Notes : The Victorians had an insatiable desire for small pots of salve. though the majority of such items tended to be ceramic rather than wooden. There were Egyptian Salves. Indian Ointment. Sufferer’s Friend. Electrical Herbal Ointment and even No Name Ointment to name but a tiny part of what was a myriad of substances. all of which would be better classified as ‘snake oil’.
Made from an inert carrier such as petroleum jelly. beeswax or lard and sometimes containing traces of alcohol. narcotics. lead. mercury or herbs. the salves were purported to cure – amongst other things – sores. boils. discoloured urine. wounds. burns. scalds. bad legs. scurvy. skin diseases. eruptions. ‘swelled tongue’ and – of course – carbuncles.
It’s fair to say that pretty much any ailment that befell you was considered to be treatable by slapping some one of these dubious gunks on the afflicted body part – though the prime beneficiary of such ‘medication’ was likely to be solely the person who sold it to you in the first place !
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.