Antique American Oak Apothecary Cabinet, 19th Century
Having a collection of fifty-three drawers in four sizes ranging from smallest at the top graduating to longer drawers. This 19th c. cabinet would have been proudly on display in an American apothecary and filled with all of the necessary items used to serve its community alongside a mortar & pestle, weights & scales, jars & surgical instruments. This large cabinet recalls the old-world hospitality of the old-time apothecary--a shop and a profession dating to ancient times. Today this wonderful cabinet could be used to store small quantities of any collection gathered by an herbalist, an artist, a small hardware shop, a do-it-yourself type of person, etc.

Although it is impossible to guess the 53 categories of the original contents that were once kept within the 53 drawers of this cabinet, here are a few ideas of traditional items that would have been stored for sale inside any apothecary: medicines in various forms, pills, elixirs (cure-alls), herbs, minerals, botanicals, teas, tinctures, exotic spices, leaves/ roots/ barks/ seeds of medicinal plants, salves, syrups, potions, perfumes, witch hazel (a soothing & astringent lotion), melissa (a lemon balm) liniments (pain-relieving lotion), antimony (used to treat parasitic infections), tobacco (a panacea used to cure tens of ailments), catnip or catmint (seditives), mint, garlic, arnica (a painkiller), verbena (an anti-inflammatory), various essential oils, chamomile, malva, ginger, soap, candles, natural products of all sorts, and various other materia medica. Most cabinets were made with secret compartments where expensive exotic spices were hidden alongside vials of dangerous items like poisons.
7' 7" x 4' 9" x 1' 8"