Agallipot is a small jar, traditionally of glazed earthenware, used by apothecaries for holding ointmentormedicine.[1] In the 21st century gallipots are available in plastic: a sales catalogue describes one with a 60ml capacity as "For general use, surgical procedures, and other medical uses; Useful for holding medicines or ointments".[2] Another supplier offers both single-use and reusable gallipots of 60ml and 280ml.[3]
The term, recorded from the 15th century, may derive from the idea of pots originally imported in galleys,[4] and has also been used for small pots used for other purposes - such as preparing an individual portion of custard[5] or melting wax while making fishing flies.[6]
The 16th-century Gallipot Inn in Hartfield, Sussex, England, is said to take its name "from the small glazed earthenware pots made to contain medicines and ointments that were once produced on-site".[7]
Gallipots in a variety of shapes are held in several museums.
![Kangxi period (1662–1722) Chinese porcelain in the Metropolitan Museum of Art[8]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MET_24_80_157_56685.jpg)
![18th-century Chinese ivory in the Metropolitan Museum of Art[9]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MET_65_86_119_O1.jpg){kind=small}
We take a small gallipot and butter it inside
To dissolve the wax, put a small piece in a gallipot ... then put the gallipot in a cup of warm water
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