National Museum of American History
RUBR
Unknown artist
This blown and molded glass jar has a baked enamel label surrounded by a gold escutcheon topped by a gold crown. The label is marked with the alchemical symbols for Mercury and Precipitate and <i>RUBR.</i> The jar would have contained red mercuric oxide, which was used as an escharotic, a salve to kill tissue and remove dead skin cells.
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