Collection Highlights
Draft wheel
ca. 1863
1865.6
Wood, metal
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Museum Collections
The Folk Art Collection of Elie Nadelman
Bottle: Swaim's panacea Philadelphia
Title
Bottle: Swaim's panacea Philadelphia
Object name
Medicine bottle
Date
1820-1828
Medium
Glass
Dimensions
Overall: 7 7/8 x 3 3/4 x 2 3/4 in. ( 20 x 9.5 x 7 cm )
Description
Aquamarine glass medicine bottle blown in a two-part mold with down-tooled lip, rounded shoulders, rectangular body with concave chamfers, inscription "SWAIM'S PANACEA" on obverse, "PHILADELPHIA" and "GENUINE" on sides, and base with deep circular depression, diagonal mold seam, and pontil mark.
Credit Line
Purchased from Elie Nadelman
Object Number
1937.1671
Marks
in relief: on obverse: "SWAIM'S / PANACEA"
in relief: on sides: "PHILADELPHIA" and "GENUINE"
Gallery Label
Swaim's Panacea, invented by William Swaim in 1820, was a celebrated cureall. In order to thwart his competitors, Swaim began in 1828 to package the tonic in a distinctive round bottle with vertical flutes. This rectangular bottle is apparently an earlier version. (See McKearin and Wilson, "American Bottles & Flasks and Their Ancestry," pp. 294-295.)
Provenance
The Folk Art Collection of Elie Nadelman
Due to ongoing research, information about this object is subject to change.
