Unguentum Dialtea

ca 1500

This blue monochrome albarello-shaped drug jar has a stylized cobalt-blue floral motif with a cross-hatch band just above the shoulder and foot. An escroll in the center of the container is inscribed in gothic script, <i>u dialtea.</i> This jar would have contained Unguentum Dialthaea, an ointment made from the gummy extract of the roots of the <i>Althaea officinalis</i>, also known as the Marshmallow. The ointment was used to soothe irritated throats and to relieve coughs.