Symbolica
The Peacock in the Flask

The Peacock in the Flask

The Vessel as the central motif, with the Crown in a secondary part. From Splendor Solis, after.

Edith A. Ibbs, after Splendor Solis, 1900 to 1909. Watercolour.

Public Domain Mark · Web copy 671 by 1400 px · Wellcome Collection

Key · 2 motifs

The motifs the picture carries, filed by role. The marks on the picture itself come with the entry.

  1. 1The Vesselcentral motif as it reads here: The Peacock
  2. 2The Crownsecondary motif

The picture

A peacock with its tail spread stands inside a flask whose neck is sealed by a crown; the Vessel as the central motif, the Crown by eye. By eye

Not yet decoded: the key and the sourced notes come with the entry. Until then the motifs above are tagged by eye and said so.

Also carrying the Vessel

7 works, 3 with it as the central motif. The symbol.

Also carrying the Crown

8 works. The symbol.

In the same series

After Splendor Solis, watercolours by Edith A. Ibbs, 1900 to 1909

Record

Source
Wellcome Collection
Rights
Public Domain Mark. Wellcome Collection marks the work as free of known copyright restrictions.
Restoration
None. A 671 by 1400 pixel web copy made from the source file; nothing retouched, nothing upscaled.
Series
After Splendor Solis, watercolours by Edith A. Ibbs, 1900 to 1909
Artist
Edith A. Ibbs, watercolour copies after Splendor Solis, 1900 to 1909, Wellcome Collection
Titled here
The Peacock in the Flask. Wellcome Collection catalogues it as: A peacock in a crowned alchemical flask; representing the stage in the alchemical process when the substance breaks out into many colours. Watercolour painting by E.A. Ibbs.
Checked
Wellcome Collection's own catalogue record, 4 September 2026: the rights, the maker, the date, accession pyhb4hmk. The title on this page is ours, as the line above says. Not seen in the gallery.
By email · free

One symbol a week, decoded.

This picture is free at full size from its source, linked above. What an address gets is the Sunday letter: one picture, one symbol marked on it, what it meant and who said so, and the master files of the decoded plates as they are verified. Leave any time.

Cite
Symbolica, “The Peacock in the Flask”, Edith A. Ibbs, after Splendor Solis, 1900 to 1909. thesymbolica.com/work/the-peacock-in-the-flask/