Pomanders

Up until 200 years ago the floors of houses in Europe and North America were strewn with sweet-smelling herbs and leaves in order to purify the air. As a protection against infection the wealthy carried pomanders - balls of sweetly scented unguents - that they sniffed in order to mask unpleasant odours. In the time of the plague and other pestilence both tussie-mussies and pomanders were considered an essential bactericide to be carried in public places at all times.

During the affluence of Tudor England many beautiful silver filigree holders were fashioned for holding such pomanders. The word itself comes from ponum ambre, apple of amber, and probably referred to a piece of ambergris or musk which in the heat of the hand would give off its powerful and bewitching scent. Some pomanders were made from a blend of aromatic substances, and the household books of Elizabethan England give many recipes.