satirizes the medical profession and shows a group of doctors, all smelling the pomanders built into the handles of their canes.Pomanders were first mentioned in literature in the mid-thirteenth century. They were used in the late
Middle Ages through the 17th century.
Medieval Pomanders were first made for carrying as religious keepsakes.
Renaissance A recipe for making pomander was included in John Partridge's
The Treasury of Commodious Conceits, and Hidden Secrets (London, 1586).
Benzoin resin,
labdanum and
storax balsam were ground into a powder, dissolved in
rose water and put into a pan over a fire to cook together. The cooked mixture was then removed from the fire, rolled into an apple shape and coated with a powdered mixture of cinnamon, sweet sanders and cloves. After this, a concoction was made from three grains each of
ambergris,
deer musk and
civet musk. The ambergris was dissolved first and the deer and civet musk mixed in later. The "apple" ball was rolled through the musk concoction to blend in these ingredients and then kneaded to combine and molded back into the shape of an apple. The scented product was used by royal and aristocratic women in a pomander, a silver or gold ball worn suspended on a chain from a girdle. In 1520, the
Duke of Buckingham commissioned a gold pomander with the heraldic badges of
Henry VIII and
Catherine of Aragon for her
New Year's Day gift. Other kinds of jewellery were made as containers for the scent, including tablets or lockets, pendants, bracelets, aglets, buttons and chains with filigree beads.
Mary I of England wore a girdle of "goldsmith's work" with a pomander.
Elizabeth I wore pairs of pomander buttons. In 1576, a London goldsmith,
John Mabbe, had 224 "pomanders of gold filled with pomander". Among the
jewels of Mary, Queen of Scots, were two complete suites of head-dresses, necklaces and belts comprising openwork or filigree gold perfumed pomander beads to hold scented
musk. A string of filigree pomander beads, suitable for a rosary, is thought to have been a gift from
Mary, Queen of Scots, to
Gillis Mowbray and is held by the
National Museum of Scotland.
Pouncet box In the late 16th century, the pouncet box appeared which, whilst retaining the traditional features of the pomander, was designed to hold liquid perfumes, blended with powder and absorbed on a sponge or piece of cotton. It was favoured by the upper classes who appreciated the delicacy of the liquid perfumes. Its name stemmed from the fact that the box was "pounced" or pierced to release the scent.
Modern s. One twentieth century style of pomander is made by studding an orange or other fruit with whole dried
cloves and letting it
cure dry, after which it may last many, many years. This modern pomander serves the functions of perfuming and freshening the air and also of keeping drawers of clothing and linens fresh and pleasant-smelling. ==Ingredients==