
Porcelain medicine spoon, cream glaze, 1801-1920, English(?)
Medicine spoons, such as this white example, were used to measure out doses of liquid medicines. The leaf-shaped moulded decoration at the bottom of the handle gives the spoon stability. Medicine spoons were popular during the 1800s and were generally ceramic (like this one) or pewter. Some had a half cover to prevent the medicine spilling over the sides. One of the problems with this type of spoon is that it is not marked with any scale, although later spoons are marked with a scale of teaspoon, dessertspoon and tablespoon. It is shown here with a blue and white example (A608496).
On display
Science Museum: Medicine: The Wellcome Galleries
If you are visiting to see this object, please contact us in advance to make sure that it will be on display.
Details
- Category:
- Pharmacy-ware
- Object Number:
- A608492
- type:
- medicine spoon
- taxonomy:
-
- furnishing and equipment
- tools & equipment
- medicine measure
- credit:
- Loan, Wellcome Trust
Cite this page
Rights
We encourage the use and reuse of our collection data.
Data in the title, made, maker and details fields are released under Creative Commons Zero
Descriptions and all other text content are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence
Download
Download catalogue entry as json
Download manifest IIIF
Our records are constantly being enhanced and improved, but please note that we cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information shown on this website.