La Voisin Handcast Bottle with orginal illustration.

Love potions have a long history from the classical world to the modern day. One of the most well documented and legendary crafters of love potions was the 17th century Parisian Catherine Deshayes, also known in the Parisian underworld as ‘La Voisin’. Dressed in flowing robes embroidered with magical symbols, she supplied the court of Louis XIV’s with love potions, palm readings, horoscopes and incantations; as well as more nefarious potions to do away with husbands. La Voisin was also accused of heading a network of practitioners of black magic, and the use of babies' blood to create magic potions. Due to her accused involved in the murder by poion of between 1,000 and 2,500 people, La Voisin was implicated in ‘The Affair of the Poisons (l'affaire des poisons)’, between 1677 and 1682, where prominent members of Louis court at Versailles were charged and executed on the charges of poisoning and witchcraft. Alongside the 36 people who were implicated and executed, was La Voisin herself. On the 22nd February 1680, she was publicly burned at the stake in Paris.