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
1-79 CE
Bronze cupping vessel, from Pompeii, Roman, 1-79AD
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
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
200 BCE-400 CE
Votive male genitalia, possibly Roman
1700-1850
Statue of Saint Adrian, invoked against stomach diseases, French(?), 1700-1850
200-200
Votive vulva, terracotta, Etrusco-Roman, 200BC-200AD
200 BCE-100 CE
Votive left ear, bronze, Roman, 200 BC - 100 BCE
Gilded wooden figure of St. Michael, patron of soldiers and the sick, Spanish, 1700-1850
1-200 CE
Bronze votive left foot, Roman, 1-200AD
Votive uterus, wrinkled, terracotta, Italy, 200BC-200AD
199 BCE-500 CE
Strigil, bronze, heavily corroded, Roman
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
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
800-100 BCE
Bronze toiletry mirror, Egyptian, 800BC-100BC.
200BCE-400CE
Votive hair, carved from marble, probably Roman, 200BC-400AD. Hung in temple or shrine to promote growth of hair on bald pate.
1-400 CE
Bronze right hand with eye hole for suspension, Roman, circa 200AD (?)
Votive uterus, terracotta, hollow, probably Roman, 200BC-200AD
1340-1350 CE
Lead mortuary cross from victim of the Great Plague of 1348, unsigned, English, 1340-1350.
100 BCE-79 CE
Votive scalp with hair, bronze, reputedly from Pompeii, 100BC-79AD
200BCE-200CE
Votive male torso, dissected to show viscera, reputedly from Isola Farnese, Roman, 200BCE-200CE.
Lead mortuary cross from victim of the Great Plague of 1348, English , 1340-1350
2050-1750 BCE
Babylonian clay liver used for divination, c.2050-1750 BC, copy, 1981
1400-700 BCE
Alabaster canopic jar with portrait of Imseti, also known as Mestha, on lid, Egyptian, 1400-700 BCE
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
Votive right leg, bronze,Roman(?)
100 BCE - 100 CE
Statue of Hygeia, white marble, found at Ostia, Roman, 100 BCE - 100 CE
Olive-ended probe or cautery, bronze, Roman
1801-1900
Wooden figure of Saint-Cosmas, twin brother of Saint Damian, patron saints of physicians, French(?), 19th century
1401-1500 CE
Statuette of St. Rock, wood, northern Germany, 15th century
Votive female head, back not modelled, terracotta, possibly Italian, Roman or Etruscan, 200BCE-100CE
Votive right ear, bronze, Roman, 200BC-100AD
Votive left arm, bronze, Roman, 200BC-100AD
1000-400 BCE
Bronze figurine of Osiris, Egyptian, 1000-400 BCE
1925-1933
Plaster replica of bronze statue of Theoris, Egyptian, 1925-1933
Votive left eye, bronze, Roman, 200BC-100AD
Statue of Saint Nicholas, wood, French, 19th century
Wooden figure of Saint Damien, twin brother of Saint Cosmas, patron saints of physicians, possibly French
Votive placenta, terracotta, Roman, 200BC-200AD
200 BCE-200 CE
Votive left foot, terracotta, possibly showing talipes, Roman, 200BC-200AD
2000-100
Limestone falcon headed canopic jar, Egyptian, 2000BC - 100AD
100-500 CE
Teething charm, tooth set in bronze handle, Roman
250-100 BCE
Votive male head, left side only, to be hung on wall, terracotta, probably Roman, 250-100 BCE.
Votive viscera, terracotta, probably Roman, 200BC-200AD
1901-1930
Etruscan denture, 2 teeth, copy, the original from a tomb
1770-1850
Gilded wooden statue of Saint Cosmas, Spanish, 1770-1850
1870-1930
Bronze statuette of Joseph Lister
2000-100 BCE
Thin gold amulet, cut and punched from behind into a cobra or uralus, Egyptian
Wooden figure of Saint Apollonia and two torturers, patron saint of toothache sufferers, French, 19th century
