Bottle of medicinal water from St. Rock, France

Made:
1928 in Bagneres de Bigorre
Group shot of from left to right:  Bottle of medicinal water Label for a bottle of medicinal water taken from the hot spring Label for a bottle of medicinal water taken from the hot spring Label for a bottle of medicinal water taken from the hot spring Label for a bottle of medicinal water taken from the hot spring

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Group shot of from left to right: Bottle of medicinal water
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Label for a bottle of medicinal water taken from the hot spring
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London.

Label for a bottle of medicinal water taken from the hot spring
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London.

Label for a bottle of medicinal water taken from the hot spring
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London.

Label for a bottle of medicinal water taken from the hot spring
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London.

Bottle of medicinal water taken from the hot spring of St. Rock, Bagneres de Bigorre, France, 1928

The bottle of medicinal water on the far left was collected from the hot spring of St Roch at the spa town of Bagnères de Bigorre in south-west France. Hot springs and mineral waters were popular in a number of ancient cultures – including Greek and Roman. Centuries later, a renewed interest in the healing and medicinal properties of these natural waters reached a peak in the Victorian period with hundreds of sites across Europe packed with visitors coming to ‘take the waters’ in the hope of a cure.

The handwritten label gives the date, “17 March 1928”, the temperature of the spring, “47ºC” (117ºF), and indicates that it is to be used for the nerves. Once cooled the water was either drunk or applied to the body. St Roch, a pilgrim from Montpellier, France, during the 1300s, was said to cure plague and other infectious diseases. As a saint, he is one of several who was commonly invoked against the plague. The bottle is shown here with three others from the same region of France (A103805, A103806, A103807).

Details

Category:
Ethnography and Folk Medicine
Collection:
Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
Object Number:
A103802
Materials:
bottle, glass, clear and stopper, cork
Measurements:
overall: 121 mm 34 mm, .09 kg
type:
bottle
credit:
Loan, Wellcome Trust