Brandy or Cure Seller 1630 - 1676

"Brandy or Cure Seller" (1630-1676), an etching by Abraham Bosse, portrays a street vendor selling brandy as a cure-all. The image shows a man with a long beard, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a long coat, standing behind a table with various bottles and glasses arranged before him. The vendor's wares are meant to cure ailments including "mal de cœur, de tefte, de dents," (heart, head, and teeth problems), as seen in the caption below. The artwork captures a scene of everyday life in 17th century France and demonstrates the popularity of brandy as a remedy. The etching, now housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, highlights the artist's skill in capturing detail and depicting the social interactions of the time.