The forty-key bowl

A brass bowl, 1751–1900

The Science Museum holds an engraved brass forty-key bowl, dated 1751 to 1900.

To verify: The place made and the object number, on the museum record

Forty days after a birth

Water was poured into the bowl until it covered the engravings, then drunk or poured over a person. The bowl was used at childbirth, in childhood illness and against the evil eye, and the main rite came 40 days after a birth.

No claims about health

The engravings are religious text. If we ever made a replica, it would be clearly labelled as one and made to food-contact rules, and we would make no claim about health or illness.