Earthenware bleeding bowl, glazed, graduated, English, 18th or 19th century
Bleeding bowls were used during bloodletting – a practice once carried out to treat a wide range of diseases and medical conditions. They were used to catch the blood from an opened vein. This example has a scale marked in fluid ounces inside the bowl to measure how much blood had been let out of the patient.
Details
- Category:
- Therapeutics
- Collection:
- Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
- Object Number:
- A626460
- Materials:
- earthenware (glazed)
- Measurements:
-
overall: 102 mm 138 mm, 0.44 kg
- type:
- bleeding bowl
- credit:
- Loan, Wellcome Trust