Eighteenth-century apothecary marketing - aphrodisiac drinks

Painted bottle for the Elixir of Love, at the History of Pharmacy Collection in Cluj-Napoca

The History of Pharmacy collection in Cluj-Napoca includes for small bottles for the Elixir of Love. Though the recipe was nothing more than mulled wine, the bottles, hand-painted and inscribed around the middle of the eighteenth century, are a good example of product branding and marketing. The depictions and the inscriptions on these containers are well adapted to the contents - flowers, doves, hearts (already used as symbols of romantic love) and fashionable people or couples, while the inscriptions, in German, indicate the date and equally romantic messages.

Read more about the exhibits HERE. 

This example of romantic heart is included in the special tour set for the Feast of Love - A History of the Heart, organized by the museum on February 25th. Read more about the event HERE. 

Detail of the red heart flanked by affronted doves