Apothecary vessels were used to store dry raw materials, primarily made of plants, but also of human, animal and mineral origin, as well as a thick, sweet pharmaceutical seasoning. Thanks to inventories from the past centuries, it is commonly known that pharmacies used primarily wooden vessels. Sometimes, the number of vessels in the pharmacy would reach over 700 pieces.

The most commonly encountered form of vessels were containers made of the tree trunk (stub). One of the resulting benefits was that the wood was drying uniformly in a centripetal manner. For this reason, vessels that have cracked due to the natural process of wood shrinkage are rare. Cracks are more likely to be caused by changes in temperature and humidity (when the vessel was transferred to a drier location with a higher temperature).

In Poland, the wood used to make vessels was derived from tree species, such as lime tree, beech, pear, sycamore, alder, poplar, ash and walnut, i.e. deciduous trees which do not produce resin. However, such trees are vulnerable to wood pests. Despite this fact, vessels produced from their wood are rarely damaged by superworms, unlike furniture and other equipment made from the same material.

Vessel lids were always made from the same wood as the vessel itself. They were characterised by flat or domed shape, sometimes equipped with flat or spherical pinnacles, etc. In the 18th century, the pinnacles were made of bones. Over the centuries, the shape of vessels has transformed. Originally, they resembled bamboo stems. In the 16th century, in addition to their earlier form, appeared vessels in the shape of an inverted truncated cone. Later, the cylindrical type was produced in different variations, often with rich moulding. Production of goblets on stems began in the 17th century, but they were also found in the 18th and 19th centuries. Vessels were stained, painted with tempera, or covered with oil paint. Inscriptions (headings) were placed on the external part of vessels. They were initially painted on diagonal ribbons and later, using a schwabacher or antiqua, directly on the vessel or an escutcheon. Escutcheons with rich ornamentation appeared in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The presented apothecary tin is a cylindrical, slightly tapering upwards vessel made of lime wood and painted with oil paint. The tin has a sort of obverse and reverse – one half is painted with a lighter shade of green, and the other half is darker. Signboards are attached to both sides of the vessel. One signboard is oval, containing a full inscription “Caput Mortuum”, and the other one is shaped like a shield with an abbreviated name: “Caput Mort.”.

In the pharmacies of old, raw materials and dry-form medications were stored in vessels of this type. Dry raw materials were substances derived from various sources: mineral, animal, and even human, but primarily of plant origin. Confections (or electuaries) were also stored in such vessels.

Caput mortuum literally means a dead head. In the bygone centuries, this name was used for iron oxide employed as a red pigment. Other former names of this substance are: ferri oxidum, ferrum oxydatum, colcothar, English red, iron red, dead head and archaic Polish chemistry terms like: tlennik żelazowy, tlenek żelazowy, tlennik żelaza czerwony, kwasorodnik żelaza, minia żelazowa, minia żelazna, niedokwas żelaza, niedokwas żelazowy, niedokwase drugi żelaza, żelazko, żeleziako czerwone, szafran żelazny, niedokwase żelaza brunatny, niedokwas żelaza czerwony.

This substance is produced in the production of Nordhausen sulfuric acid by distillation of ferric sulphate – it is the residue of this process. Caput mortuum was used for dyeing medicinal substances and as a dye in painting. For alchemists, the concept of caput mortuum was a synonym for something worthless, waste, residue from distillation or sublimation of a substance.