Apothecary Cabinets or ‘Medicine Chests’ were widely used in the age of Heroic Medicine (pre-scientific medicine that was largely unproven and was very likely to do the patient more harm than good).

Apothecary Cabinets often included a manual containing a list of contents and how to use them, with a leaflet with purging, bloodletting, blistering, and resuscitation directions – all means of what the heroic age of medicine was all about.

Pre 1700 chests were mostly made from Shagreen and typically had sliding covers, fitted tin boxes, and a bottle/jar rack. Wooden chests in Oak and Walnut became popular in the late 1700s, followed by Rosewood and Mahogany in the 1800s.

The Apothecary Chests with lids would generally date from the late 1700s and eventually declined in popularity. They came back into fashion in the mid-late 1800s.
In the 1820s, chests in the Military Style with Brass flush handles became more fashionable.

In Medicine Chests/ Apothecary Cabinets we have come across, we have found many exciting substances. These would include Mercury and Laudanum, a tincture of opium! In our present day, these would be considered extremely dangerous or addictive drugs!