This dainty hand-painted jar is from the mid-20th century France. It is decorated in glazed faïence and inscribed Arsenic
Arsenic has a long and unsettling history in both medicine and poison. For centuries, arsenic compounds appeared in treatments for everything from skin disease to syphilis, even as the substance became notorious for its toxicity and use in deliberate poisoning. By the 19th century, it occupied an uneasy place between remedy and danger.
Ceramic jars like this descend from the traditional vessels once used to organize the shelves of European apothecaries. Pharmacists kept an enormous range of raw ingredients and prepared compounds in labeled containers. The vessels were practical, but also part of the presentation of the pharmacy itself.
