Skip to main content Skip to footer

About this object

  • ID:

    18399a

  • Production date:

    Late Medieval; 15th century

  • Location:

    In Store

  • Glass urinal flasks like this were used by medieval doctors to diagnose patients' condition from the colour and appearance of their urine. Different colours were thought to indicate different ailments. Red urine, for example, showed a patient had a fever. Dark green urine indicated backache. Illustrations of sickbed scenes often featured a doctor holding up a urinal, and the urinal became an emblem of the medical profession. In 1382 a quack doctor, Roger Clerk of Wandsworth, was convicted of fraud when he charged Roger atte Hacche 12 pence for a 'cure' for his sick wife Johanna: a blank piece of parchment wrapped up in cloth of gold. As punishment, Clerk was paraded through the streets on a horse without a saddle, with two urinals and a whetstone (symbolising a lying tongue) hanging round his neck.

  • Measurements

    H 225 mm; DM 130 mm

  • Materials

    glass

  • Last Updated

    2024-03-14

FURTHER INFORMATION
  • NUMBER OF ITEMS

    1

  • STATUS

    permanent collection

  • COPYRIGHT HOLDER

    digital image copyright Museum of London

  • Related place

    City of London

?

Record quality:

What is this?

Not every record in Collections Online is complete. Some have low quality images designed purely for recognition, while some have been catalogued only to a basic standard. This graphic is designed to give you an impression of the quality of data you can see. 100% meets all our current data standards and has a high quality image, 20% is a basic record with no image. Individual record quality can change over time as new photography is carried out and records are worked on.

X