38. Apothecary Jar

Chinese Exports & Medicine: As seen in the gin bottle, object 7 and the soup bowl object 37, the Qing Dynasty had a roaring and highly lucrative trade in export china, with pieces made exclusively for the export market and often to special order as with this  polychrome painted apothecary jar with the imperial arms of Russia. This set is believed to have been made for Peter I’s (r. 1682 – 1725) Moscow pharmacy, which in 1710 is recorded to have been stocked with jars bearing the imperial Russian eagle, not the two headed Austrian Eagle shown here. The jar was made in 1685-1710 and is 17 cms tall.