Plastic tub of ‘Arabian Cream’, for vaginal application to enhance sexual function, purchased and made in Ghana, unknown maker, c2010

The outer packaging of this item gives no information about its contents or advertises what the claimed benefits might be. Its guarded presentation may indicate a sense of secrecy required around a product such as this to fit with perceived cultural and societal norms. The use of the word ‘Arabian’ may reveal fetishisation of Arabic cultures to sell products.

Purchased from an travelling trader called Comfort Owusu, in Accra, Ghana this item is one of several collected for the Science Museum by Jonathan Roberts, lecturer at Mount Saint Vincent University and a specialist in the history of medicine and religion in West Africa. Jonathan’s work focuses on the many forms of healing present in Accra, Ghana, where people have a range of choices in the healthcare they seek. Practices and treatments encountered from different cultures are selectively absorbed and sold, fusing together different medical and healing systems.