The presented English delftware type faience apothecary vase comes from the collection of Mateusz Bronisław Grabowski (1904–1976). The vessel rests on a separate foot, featuring a spherical, somewhat flattened belly ending with a cylindrical, low collar. The vase is white, and the decorations covering it are cobalt coloured. A decorative Angel with outspread wings type cartouche is decorated with a winged angel’s head at the top, and two spheres, from which twisted ribbons flow. The cartouche contains a pharmacy inscription: C[ONSERVA]: LUJULAE[1], i.e. wood-sorrel preserve[2]. This medicine was also known as Conserva Acetosellae. This preparation was made from the leaves of wood-sorrel (Oxalis acetosella L., syn. Alleluja, Lujullae). It exhibited anti-inflammatory as well as antipyretic properties and was used to treat scurvy.

Grabowski’s collection consists of 83 ceramic apothecary vessels made in the period from the 16th to the 19th century in Italian, Dutch, British and French manufactories. They are some of the most valuable exhibits of the Museum of Pharmacy at the Jagiellonian University Medical College. The creator and donor of the collection was the Master of Pharmacy Mateusz Bronisław Grabowski (1904–1976), a pre-war pharmaceutical inspector of the Warsaw Voivodeship, soldier in the September campaign of 1939, member of the Polish Armed Forces in the West, and later, an emigrant entrepreneur and patron of the arts. In years 1948–1976, he ran a pharmacy in central London as well as the thriving Grabowski Export-Import company, which exported medicines to Poland and other countries behind the Iron Curtain. His pharmacy and drug trading company were known under the common name of Grabowski’s Pharmacy. In 1959, he founded a contemporary art gallery, i.e. the Grabowski Gallery, which was located right next to his company. It was not profit-oriented, but its owner decided to bestow his patronage on both Polish and young, aspiring artists of other nationalities. The first European pop art show was held there in 1962. At Grabowski’s Gallery, Jan Czapski, Wojciech Fangor, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Derek Boshier, Pauline Boty and many other creators presented their works. During nearly sixteen years of promotional and exhibition activities, Mateusz Grabowski amassed a private collection of 386 works of art. In 1975, he donated it to the Museum of Art in Łódź and the National Museum in Warsaw. The pharmacist also collected apothecary pottery, which he donated to the Museum of Pharmacy in Kraków. In 1975, in London, he created a foundation in his name – the MB Grabowski Fund, devoting a significant portion of his wealth to this purpose. Its task is to promote Polish culture and science in Great Britain.
Majolica includes ware made of baked clay and covered in tin-lead glaze. They are produced using a technique originating from the Middle East. Over time, the technique also spread in the Iberian Peninsula and subsequently, in Italy. The majolica originating in those regions was particularly popular during the Renaissance and became one of the art symbols of the period. The most important ceramic centres included: Faenza, Urbino, Deruta, Venice, Rome, Montelupo and Savona. Majolica products were very expensive, which is why ordering a set of apothecary dishes emphasised the high economic status of the pharmacy owner. Grabowski’s collection includes: vessels (for liquid medicines), vases, jars (including albarella) and tins (for semi-liquid and solid medicines). The names of the preparations, most often in Latin, were typically placed in cartouches painted on the walls of the vessels. There are also unlabelled containers, which may have belonged in a home medicine kit of a wealthy owner. Later on, empty spaces were left on the vessels, in which the names of the medicines could be written according to current needs.

Faience includes ware made of baked clay, covered in tin-lead glaze. Their production method originates from the Middle East. Over time, the method spread across the Iberian Peninsula, and subsequently in Italy, where such products were called “majolica”. At the end of the 17th century, the Netherlands became the main European centre for the production of ceramics, especially the city of Delft. The local products, called faience, became famous for their original blue and white decoration, imitating the exceptionally expensive Far Eastern porcelain. The Dutch faience soon found its followers in other countries, especially in Great Britain. A characteristic type of ornamentation called English delftware developed in Lambeth near London. In the 2nd half of the 18th century, the English introduced the so-called delicate faience. The new material became very popular across Europe as it was much more durable and cheaper than the existing faience, which for distinction is called proper or continental faience. The recipe of the delicate English faience is not based on the technology of producing faience, but on the method of making stoneware using transparent lead glaze (later, borax glaze). The most acclaimed English potter was Josiah Wedgwood, who developed several new varieties of this material, including pearlware with a spectacular blue-pearl shade obtained by adding cobalt oxide to the glaze. Apart from Lambeth, another important ceramic centre was Leeds.
Apothecaries ordered whole series of containers for medications from the listed ceramic materials. The collection of Mateusz Bronisław Grabowski located in Kraków contains 8 English delftware apothecary vessels and 2 pearlware vessels. They are the only objects of this type recorded in Polish collections.