Apothecary's moon-shaped shop sign, Europe, 1701-1900

Apothecary's shop sign in form of moon, brass, c18 or c19 Apothecary's shop sign in form of moon, brass, c18 or c19 Apothecary's shop sign in form of moon, brass, c18 or c19 Apothecary's shop sign in form of moon, brass, c18 or c19 Apothecary's shop sign in form of moon, brass, c18 or c19

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Apothecary's shop sign in form of moon, brass, c18 or c19
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Apothecary's shop sign in form of moon, brass, c18 or c19
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Apothecary's shop sign in form of moon, brass, c18 or c19
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Apothecary's shop sign in form of moon, brass, c18 or c19
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Apothecary's shop sign in form of moon, brass, c18 or c19
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Apothecary's shop sign in form of moon, brass, c18 or c19, European

Before the numbering of street buildings began to become commonplace towards the end of the 1700s, houses and commercial properties were usually known by their name or by the signs that hung over them. Businesses would often advertise that their products could be bought at, for example, ‘the sign of the dragon’ in a particular street.

This moon-shaped sign once hung outside an apothecary’s shop, somewhere in Europe. The moon was believed to influence human behaviour and represent cycles of life and death, which could explain why it was chosen.

Details

Category:
Pharmacy-ware
Collection:
Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
Object Number:
A631332
Materials:
brass
Measurements:
overall: 360 mm x 310 mm x 10 mm, 0.68 kg
type:
shop sign