Maria (and sometimes Mary) the Prophetess was an alchemist of great ability and talents. She lived in Alexandria, Egypt between the first and third centuries CE, and is credited for inventing various chemical apparatus. Her activities were researched and documented by several writers, including Zosimos of Panopolis, Marilyn French, and Edmund Oscar von Lippmann to name a few. In these accounts, Maria the Prophetess experimented extensively with distillation, and developed a new type of bronze still. Maria was also noted for being able to produce caput mortuum, a popular purple pigment that shared its name with a byproduct of alchemical processes. 

Fun fact - for the cooks and bakers out there, you may have heard of or used the hot water bath technique. This technique (and sometimes equipment) is known as a bain-marie, which in French means "Mary's bath." Can you guess which Mary is honored in this name? 

This dasher is 5 inches (13 cm) tall with a 130 ml capacity.