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Pomander

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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• Pomander
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1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
• Pomander

(from Fr. poinme d'ambre, i.e. apple of amber), a ball made of perfumes, such as ambergris (whence the name), musk, civet, &c., and formerly worn or carried in a case, also known by the same name, as a protection against infection in times of pestilence or merely as a useful article to modify bad smells. The globular cases which contained the "pomanders" were hung from a neck-chain or attached to the girdle, and were usually perforated and made of gold or silver. Sometimes they contained several partitions, in each of which was placed a different perfume. There is an early Spanish pomander set with emeralds, and a fine 16th-century one, dredged from the Thames, in the British Museum.