Explore early approaches to medical treatment and self-care with an incredible range of objects dating from as early as 4000 BCE to around 500CE, many from Rome and Egypt.
Classical & Medieval Medicine
1520-1530
Statue of Saint Sebastian, oak, perhaps lower Rhenish, German, 1520-1530
400 BCE- 100 BCE
Bronze cupping cup, Greek, excavated in Syracuse, 1926
199 BCE-500 CE
Strigil, bronze, heavily corroded, Roman
200 BCE-400 CE
Votive right leg, bronze,Roman(?)
1-79 CE
Bronze cupping vessel, from Pompeii, Roman, 1-79AD
Votive male genitalia, possibly Roman
1750-1850
Wooden figure of Job with an affliction of boils, possibly German, 1750-1850
199-500
Strigil, bronze, Roman
100-350 CE
Water pipe, pottery, found at York, Roman period, 100-350
1900-1938
Three of four cranial crochets, copies, used for removing the brain prior to embalming, originals Egyptian, 2000-101BC
1601-1750
Wooden figure of saint Mary Magdalene as a penitent, invoked against plague, ulcers and for children slow or weak, possibly Spanish, 1601-1750
100 BCE - 100 CE
Statue of Hygeia, white marble, found at Ostia, Roman, 100 BCE - 100 CE
Stone votive penis
1401-1500 CE
Statuette of St. Rock, wood, northern Germany, 15th century
2000-100
Limestone falcon headed canopic jar, Egyptian, 2000BC - 100AD
500-100
Votive left hand, broken at wrist, possibly making a prophylactic gesture, terracotta, solid, Cyprus, 500BC-100BC
1-400 CE
Bronze right hand with eye hole for suspension, Roman, circa 200AD (?)
200 BCE-100 CE
Votive right ear, bronze, Roman, 200BC-100AD
Votive left ear, bronze, Roman, 200 BC - 100 BCE
Bronze miniature skeleton or "Larva Convivalis", a "memento mori" handed to guests at feasts, articulated but with lower right leg missing and left arm substituted for lower right leg, Roman
100 BCE - 400 CE
Bronze vaginal speculum, probably Roman, found in the Lebanon, screw is modern, 99BC to 400AD
600-200
Pair of votive breasts, marble, on inscribed slab, Greek, 600BC-200BC
200-200
Votive uterus, terracotta, hollow, probably Roman, 200BC-200AD
1000-400 BCE
Bronze figurine of Osiris, Egyptian, 1000-400 BCE
Votive vulva, terracotta, Etrusco-Roman, 200BC-200AD
1-200 CE
Bronze votive left foot, Roman, 1-200AD
1700-1850
Gilded wooden figure of St. Michael, patron of soldiers and the sick, Spanish, 1700-1850
Votive uterus, wrinkled, terracotta, Italy, 200BC-200AD
1936
Model, of Asklepeion at Epidaurus, after the reconstruction of Defrasse, including sign, and roof for Thoros (round-shaped) temple, made in London, 1936, scale 1:66
Votive left eye, bronze, Roman, 200BC-100AD
1400-700 BCE
Alabaster canopic jar with portrait of Imseti, also known as Mestha, on lid, Egyptian, 1400-700 BCE
Statue of Saint Adrian, invoked against stomach diseases, French(?), 1700-1850
2000-100 BCE
Thin gold amulet, cut and punched from behind into a cobra or uralus, Egyptian
Olive-ended probe or cautery, bronze, Roman
Votive uterus, terracotta, Roman, 200BC-200AD
600-200 BCE
Knife, bronze, with hooked blade, used for cutting attachments of internal organs in evisceration prior to embalming, Egyptian, 600BC-201BC
1701-1850
Wooden statue of Saint Margaret of Antioch, patron of nurses, invoked by married woman and against sterility, wounds and facial blemishes, possibly French, 1700-1850
Thigh tourniquet, bronze, Roman, from Hamonic collection
100 BCE-79 CE
Votive scalp with hair, bronze, reputedly from Pompeii, 100BC-79AD
1801-1900
Statue of Saint Nicholas, wood, French, 19th century
Votive left arm, bronze, Roman, 200BC-100AD
Votive placenta, terracotta, Roman, 200BC-200AD
200 BCE-200 CE
Votive viscera, terracotta, probably Roman, 200BC-200AD
300 BCE; 1905-1915
Copy of Roman artificial leg, c.1910, original was in Royal College of Surgeons and had been in a grave at Capua, c.300BC
2050-1750 BCE
Babylonian clay liver used for divination, c.2050-1750 BC, copy, 1981
Wooden figure of Saint-Cosmas, twin brother of Saint Damian, patron saints of physicians, French(?), 19th century
Votive female head, back not modelled, terracotta, possibly Italian, Roman or Etruscan, 200BCE-100CE
Votive left foot, terracotta, possibly showing talipes, Roman, 200BC-200AD
Wooden figure of Saint Damien, twin brother of Saint Cosmas, patron saints of physicians, possibly French
