The Pharmaceutical Society’s Ceremonial Mace, 1956

The Society’s beautifully elegant ceremonial mace was designed by Cyril Shiner and made in hand-wrought silver, with gold motifs, by Padgett and Braham Ltd, manufacturing goldsmiths and silversmiths, in 1956. The design represents the past and then present of pharmacy. The top is engraved with foxgloves, surmounted by a finial shaped in the form of a carboy. Its handsome conical head has a border decorated with the emblems of Great Britain: the Rose of England, Thistle of Scotland, and the Leek of Wales. The front carries the Society’s coat of arms. Below the head are six motifs which represent the rich history of pharmacy: a pair of scales, a drug jar, a pestle and mortar, a specie jar, a conical measure and a shop round. The tapered shaft is engraved with a scroll inscribed ‘Founded 1841: Royal Charter of Incorporation 1843: Supplemental Charters 1901, 1948, 1953.’ Designs around the scroll illustrate recent pharmaceutical discoveries and developments: • The antibiotic era is shown by Pen