English Delftware Drug Jars, Reading the Runes – Alan Humphries

Last Updated on 12/08/2025

Alan Humphries will show a wide variety of the different hand painted designs and drug labels on these seventeenth and eighteenth century jars.

There are the names of the contents. Look closely; some will have dates and the initials of their original owners. Understanding the style of painting – some of angels, others of mythical creatures or floral swags – can inform us about where they were made.

Manufactured from c.1640 to 1780, the shapes and decoration changed over this period. Imagine how impressive a shop wall full of these jars made as a set might be, and how the beauty of the designs may have helped to convince customers of both the efficacy of the contents and the skills of their owner?

A Librarian to the Thackray Museum, Leeds which with 436 jars and 11 pill tiles is the largest collection of English Delftware drug jars anywhere, Alan was appointed at its foundation in 1990 and remained in charge until he retired in 2021. Describing his interest “an obsession which still continues today”, Alan has traced and catalogued around 2900 English jars to date.

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