An 18th-century medicine chest

The advanced research of our project focuses on a spectacular 18th-century medicine chest preserved in the collection. The object is special through its age, state of preservation, association with an owner (countess Theresia Kemeny) and a pharmacist from Șimleu who provided the medicine, the preservation of the original content (glass containers, packages with materia medica and a previously unpublished manuscript), the combination of materials (wood, metal, glass, paper, rope, ink), and especially the preservation of most of the medicines that we shall analyze and compare to the era’s pharmaceutical preparations. We have started by researching the history of the artifact and its inscriptions and preparing for the collection of samples for specialized analyses at a laboratory in Pisa (Italy).