Reproduction
Object numberRCSHM/Z 73
CollectionCollege Museum
CategorySculpture
Object namesignboards
DescriptionTwo sections from a carved wooden apothecary's signboard, 1623.
These two fragments are all that remains of an early seventeenth-century apothecary or barber-surgeon's signboard found at Poole in Dorset. The board was carved in high relief and was painted, and depicted the apothecary/surgeon engaged in different operations including bleeding, examination of a patient's urine, amputation, the reduction of a dislocated shoulder and the removal of a breast tumour. The signboard was almost wholly destroyed in 1941 when the College was bombed, and these are the only two fragments which remain. However a painted plaster replica of the complete signboard is still preserved in the museum.
Related objectsRCSSC/P 407
Physical Location
LocationNot on public display: contact museum for access conditions
Physical Information
Physical descriptionDry
Materialperspex
[AL]LTISSIMV[S] / [CREAVIT] DE T[ER]RA MED[ECINUM ET VIR] / [PRUDE]NS N[ON] ABHO[REBIT ILLAM] / ANN[O] DOMMI[NI 1623]
Dimensions
height: 82 mm
width: 283 mm
depth: 313 mm
width: 283 mm
depth: 313 mm
Bibliography
SourceThompson 1929
87-88
NotesSee also photograph reproduced facing title page.
TranscriptIn the entrance vestibule of the College is an interesting old signboard that belonged to an apothecary or barber-surgeon dated 1623 which was found at Poole, in Dorsetshire.
It measures 36 by 24 inches together with its frame, the whole carved on one panel of wood, the figures being in high relief and painted in colour. It is divided into eight compartments, in seven of which various operations, such as venesection, surgery, dentistry and other methods of treatment are represented.
In the centre stands the sturdy figure of the apothecary himself, flanked by two yellow marbled pillars surmounted by caryatids evidently forming the door of his shop, as behind him are three shelves, on which stand an array of drug jars and bottles. He wears a ruff, short cloak and trunk hose, and carries his gloves in one hand.
In the compartment above, he is represented wearing a long coat, standing at the bedside of a patient, examining a specimen of urine in a flask which he is holding in his left hand. The patient, whose head is swathed in linen, is lying on her side in a four-post bed which is elaborately carved.
The upper compartment on the left represents venesection. The patient, a woman, wearing a frilled cap and ruff with a grey skirt and apron, is seated on a chair. In her left hand she is holding the basin to catch the blood which is seen spurting from her arm, while with the other she grasps a staff to distend the veins. The operator, standing in front of her, has the fingers of one hand on her pulse, while he holds her by the shoulder with the other.
In the compartment below, a man is having his left leg amputated below the knee. The patient, apparently unperturbed, is seated on a stool grasping the upper part of the limb with his hands, while the operator wields a large saw with one hand and grasps the foot with the other.
In the compartment beneath, a patient, is having a tooth extracted; In the top compartment on the right, the apothecary is represented reducing the dislocated shoulder of a patient who is seated on a chair, while in the one below he is seen examining a woman, who is evidently suffering from a tumour on her breast which he is about to cauterise. In the last compartment he is shown examining a man who stands attired in a white shirt and brown breeches, and is wearing a short sword. His right arm, which is extended, is flexed from the elbow as if he was unable to move it, and the operator is apparently exerting pressure on his lumbar muscles.
Across the lower part of the panel is carved the following inscription:
Altissimus / creavit de Terra Medecinam et vir / Prudens non Abhorebit illam / Anno Dommini 1623.
This interesting relic admirably illustrates the varied activities of the apothecary in the time of King James I, over 300 years ago.
