Z: ALUM: UST

18th century

This urn-shaped blown-glass jar has rounded shoulders and a flared neck with a round glass stopper in its mouth. The opaqueness of the glass comes from the addition of tin oxide in an attempt to mimic porcelain. The jar has a gold shield decorated with red and blue flowers, with a label inside the shield that reads <i>ALUM UST</i> in black. This jar would have contained <i>Alumen ustum</i>, or heated alumen. Alumen ustum was chiefly used as a caustic for irritating the skin.