A GERMAN PARCEL-GILT SILVER POMANDER

The segments are engraved '1 Canet', cinnamon, '2 Moscat', nutmeg, '3 Rosen', roses, '4 Schlag', a compound of ambergris, musk and civet, '5 Ruten', rue, '6 Negelken' - cloves, '7 Anbar', ambergris and '8 Citronen', lemon.

The term pomander is derived from the French pomme d'ambre, for 'apple of amber'. It is used to describe a silver or gold container for scents. Fashionable ladies often wore them hung from their girdle belt, alongside other accessories, such as a muff and mirror. They were used to ward off bad odors and, in the mind of the 17th century citizen, to thus protect against infection. In its early form the pomander or musk would have held a single ball, such as that sold Christie's London, 1 December 2005, lot 512. By the 17th century the pomander had developed into the distinct form of the present example with segments inside to contain a number of different scents.