How To Create An Apothecary With Antiques
As an antiques dealer few jobs could be as delicious as furnishing an Antique Apothecary.
I come across SO MANY perfect pieces for this in the antiques trade that it would rude not to give you a heads up. Apothacarys are growing ever more popular, prices will soon creep up and the best pieces will start getting scarce, but for the now anyone with a bit of imagination could start this on a budget, and end up with an amazing space.
– Practical and magical, inspiring and useful, an atmospheric work space, or maybe just a spot to sit and bask …
A Few Apothecary Essentials;
Pestle & Mortar –
Used since the stone age and with magical associations in many cultures. Historically this has been a tool for both the cook and the medicine maker from the earliest times. I’m sure you’ve heard of Grandmother witch Baba Yaga using her pestle to row her way across the night skies in a great flying mortar? But less known is that these tools were also deeply associated with medieval Alchemists who believed that within the bowl of the mortar they might seek out the very meaning of life.
Until the last century these were essential tools in almost every home, not just for cooking but also for the preparation of home remedies of all sorts of medicinal herbs and powders. The large brass sets were also used by doctors, pharmacists and traditional apothecaries, as well as by early chemists and scientists. Ceramic, granite, marble, and wood were all popular in the kitchen, and many households would keep different sets for different uses.
We see a lot come into the antiques trade, prices vary wildly, from inexpensive vintage granite, marble, and Indian brass, to Victorian brass or ceramic pieces in the middle price range, and 16th century bronze at the dizzy heights. I love the older sets, worn and grooved by generations of working hands. You can occasionally find very simple and quite ancient stone grinding dishes too, these would have belonged to village women and healers and can be hundreds of years old.
Bottles & Jars –
Recycled glass of all types and the lovely vintage Masons and Kilner jars are great, but for a decorative touch add a few Victorian era bottles and jars. These come in an amazing array of shapes & colours, most famously the 100 year old deep Cobalt Blue and Emerald green bottles stamped ‘Do not take’ and ‘Poison’. There are also bottles reclaimed from early pharmacies and chemistry labs which often still have the original glass stoppers.
Antique glass frequently comes in dark amber/brown, perfect for those ingredients that don’t like sunlight (or prying eyes).
Keep an eye out for the lovely old ‘stoneware’ ceramic Gin bottles, and ceramic Ink bottles with a tiny pouring spout, both can be bought from bottle diggers for just a few pounds.
* warning; make sure whatever you use has been thoroughly cleaned! And for ‘dug’ bottles it’s a false economy buying them un-cleaned even though they are loads cheaper (I learned this the hard way – it takes hours to soak and scrub out 150 years worth of soil and grime).
Serious bottle collectors will shun anything even slightly chipped, which means you can get real bargains if you don’t mind the odd rim ‘nibble’. New cork stoppers and plugs can be bought cheap online and trimmed down to fit as needed.
Cutting Tools & Choppers –
One of the most pleasing ‘kitchen’ tools I come across are antique herb choppers, with a hand forged semi -circular or square blade, and smooth hard wood handle, perfect for all sorts of kitchen witchery…
Then there are antique scissors for snipping and every sort of knife you can imagine. The best quality antique blades are English Sheffield steel, these frequently come with a lovely stags horn or bone handle. Some older blades can be found in iron, these are rarer and often extremely worn, but could be useful in certain types of working.
Any apothecary will also need the right surface to work on, – when working with minerals or powders the old apothecaries used a special extra large ceramic tile as a base. Those are rare now but there are many beautiful small antique tiles on the market – (just be aware that some patterns have a bumpy surface that makes things tricky) – polished marble or slate works well and is always smooth, this can be found in the form of antique ‘cold’ boards. Wood is no good for minerals as it will absorb anything that falls on it and fine powders will get caught in the grain. But a wooden board becomes essential for chopping plant matter, wood, or bone, old pine bread boards will be ideal.
Caddies, Boxes & Tins –
Perfect for teas, herbs, and salts, or even for graveyard dirt if that’s your kind of thing… many wooden antique tea caddies still have the original three zinc lined compartments inside. Other caddies are cylindrical and can be made from china, pewter, or even silver. Some early box shaped models have a lock and key, from the days when tea and sugar were valuable enough to steal.
Antique tins also make useful apothecary storage. Coming in all shapes and sizes, from large Biscuit tins to the tiny matchbox sized tins once used for spare gramophone needles – They’ve often become scuffed and scratched over the years and although I almost never ‘mess about’ with antiques, – many worn early tins are very cheap (tin collectors want better condition) and they definitely invite a repaint or decoupage job with appropriate pictures, symbols or words.
Household wooden ‘jars’ and store boxes have been made in most cultures, often decorated in traditional regional folk designs such as the old wooden butter jars from Nepal with Yak figures on the lids. It’s not uncommon in a few parts of the world to find lids carved with guardian figures or protective symbols, these take many forms, from a simple cross to lizards, turtles, or even watchful demons to ward off intruders and thieves. I had one 200 year old English oak box carved with winding Ivy stems and leaves that seemed more designed to symbolically bind something inside than to keep someone out…
Spoons Spoons Spoons!
I’ll admit it, I have a bit of a thing for antique spoons. From tiny silver and pewter salt and mustard spoons to Naga (cobra) handled bronze Puja spoons from India and the powerfully carved wooden ritual spoons of Africa. Tibetan medicine spoons set with coral and turquoise cabochons, gnarly hand hewn olive-wood spoons from Italy and Greece, polished bone spoons once popular in England for eating your boiled eggs, whimsical Art Nouveau tea caddy spoons in copper and pewter that are shaped like strange little fairy shovels… And then there are ladles for pouring, fancy pierced fruit spoons for straining, long handled iron spoons for roasting over a flame… Spoons for making offerings, spoons for stirring, spoons for measuring, – so many spoons, so little time…
Apothecary Furniture
The furniture you use to ‘house’ your Apothecary is fundamental to how well it all hangs together. Will you hide it all inside a tall locked cupboard or create a fascinating laboratory on open shelving and work tops?
I’ve seen antique drop-front desk bureaus used well, as they are already fitted with little shelves and draws inside and the ‘desk’ can be either closed for privacy or opened out to provide a perfect place to sit and work. I see these selling cheap in every junk shop in the land. But they dont give you much space and I much prefer mixing a few different pieces myself… A working table flanked by a pair of repurposed old bookcases is a perfect starting point. From there you can build up to as big as you need…
For a ‘Cottage’ look think about;
– Victorian pine ‘side tables’ or marble topped Edwardian ‘wash stands’.
– Early 20th century ‘food safes’ (those old wire fronted cupboards on legs with a central shelf)
– Handwoven baskets (can be hung from ceilings & shelves for extra storage)
– Antique ‘Candle’ and ‘Salt’ boxes, – (traditionally wooden with a lid and hung on the wall)
– Small square wooden draws – (typically salvaged from antique dressing tables)
– Anything either ‘Arts & Crafts’ or ‘Art Nouveau’ – (these styles from 1880 – 1920 boast gothic revival vibes or swirling organic otherworldly designs).
– Spice racks or small hanging shelves,
– Traditional Spice cupboards and drawers – (small with multiple compartments).
– Barley Twist Oak Candle sticks (for flame work & soft lighting)
For a more Arcane look (think alchemist or sorcerers laboratory …) Look out for;
– Old trestle tables or reclaimed industrial work benches
– Victorian Ink Wells & Ink Stands (these come in some fantastical designs and if complete they come with glass liners so they don’t only have to be used for Ink)
– Vintage card filing cabinets ( ideal for recipies or instructions and easily converted for storing herbs but with an ‘academia’ vibe)
– Antique glass ‘onion’ decanters (gorgeous but no longer in fashion, – can be found surprisingly cheap in any market or antiques centre)
– Old laboratory sets of test tubes & racks
– Brass or Iron Trivet Stands (the longer legged ones can also hold a pot over a low flame)
– Sand Glass timers (occasionally useful, intrinsically romantic, somewhat eery)
– Antique Pipe Cabinets (some of these are lovely, handy size, easily converted as extra storage, sometimes bargain prices as no one smokes pipes any more)
– Chamber Sticks & Plain Candelabras (because frankly, it would be rude not to)
In Conclusion
I realize I could actually go on forever with these lists – there are just SO Many wonderful things I see on my travels through the antiques trade that would fit perfectly into the world of the folk medicine or witches apothecary.
Ive tried to only discuss items here that have some sort of practical use, I’ve left out the more technical tools that a serious herbalist might use and just focused on the basics, but however far you wanted to go with this I know it can all be found in antiques and flea markets, stylish and affordable, with a bit of leg work and imagination.
So go forth and create a space that brings you joy, both to look at and to work in,
here’s to the hunt x