French bell-metal mortar made for Charles Angibaud, Master Apothecary to Louis XIVth, 1678

Description

The bell-metal mortar you see here has quite an extraordinary life story, connecting the Royal Pharmaceutical Society with the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries and King Louis XIV of France.

The mortar was cast in the Royal Foundry of France and was presented by Louis XIV to his personal master apothecary Charles Angibaud in 1678.

The band around the mortar rim is inscribed in French ‘CHARLE ANGIBAVD ME APPRE ET ORDINAIRE DV ROY A PARIS 1678’. Translation: ‘Charles Angibaud Ordinary and Master Apothecary of the King in Paris 1678’

The decoration on the waist of the mortar includes the Royal Coat-of-Arms of Louis XIV of France, either side of another armorial bearing depicting an angel reaching towards a sunlit sky. This has been interpreted as the arms of Charles Angibaud as it could be a play on his name; ange is French for angel and beau in this context means fair weather.

The mortar has two beautiful ram heads for handles.

Fact

In 1681, shortly after being presented the mortar, Charles Angibaud fled France as a Protestant exile (to escape religious persecution) and came to England.
In England he rose through the apothecary profession, becoming the Master of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London in 1728.
The full history of the mortar is unclear. We do not know how the mortar came to be in England, whether it was brought from France with Angibaud or made the journey at a later date.