Oval goa stone, Europe, 1601-1800
- Science Museum, London
Available online
License
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
You can use this work for any purpose, including commercial uses, without restriction under copyright law. You should also provide attribution to the original work, source and licence.
Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) terms and conditions https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Credit: Oval goa stone, Europe, 1601-1800. Credit: Science Museum, London. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
About this work
Description
Goa stones are named after their place of origin, Goa in India. They are artificially manufactured versions of bezoar stones, which are found in animal stomachs. Goa stones are made from a combination of clay, silt, shells, resin and musk and are typically spherical in shape. Scrapings from Goa stones mixed with water were drunk as a remedy for numerous ailments, including plague. They were also placed in drinks to counteract suspected poisoning. They were highly valued and could change hands for enormous prices. This stone has a case made from interwoven gold threads to give its ornate pattern. maker: Unknown maker Place made: Europe
Contributors
Identifiers
We’re improving the information on this page. Find out more.