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Gallipot
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A gallipot is a small jar, traditionally of glazed earthenware, used by apothecaries for holding ointment or medicine.[1] In the 21st century gallipots are available in plastic: a sales catalogue describes one with a 60ml capacity as "For general use, surgical procedures, and other medical uses; Useful for holding medicines or ointments".[2] Another supplier offers both single-use and reusable gallipots of 60ml and 280ml.[3]
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The term, recorded from the 15th century, may derive from the idea of pots originally imported in galleys,[4] and has also been used for small pots used for other purposes - such as preparing an individual portion of custard[5] or melting wax while making fishing flies.[6]
![A building outside which stands a pub sign with the wording "The Gallipot Inn 16th century freehouse"](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/The_Gallipot_Inn_-_geograph.org.uk_-_456441.jpg/320px-The_Gallipot_Inn_-_geograph.org.uk_-_456441.jpg)
The 16th-century Gallipot Inn in Hartfield, Sussex, England, is said to take its name "from the small glazed earthenware pots made to contain medicines and ointments that were once produced on-site".[7]
Gallipots in a variety of shapes are held in several museums.
- c. 1760, English tin-glazed earthenware in the Flynt Center of Early New England Life - Deerfield, Massachusetts
- Kangxi period (1662–1722) Chinese porcelain in the Metropolitan Museum of Art[8]
- 18th-century Chinese ivory in the Metropolitan Museum of Art[9]