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POMANDER
MEMENTO MORI
pomander, from French pomme dambre, i.e. apple of amber, is a ball made of
perfumes, such as ambergris (whence the name), musk, or civet. The pomander was
worn or carried 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 |
'Memento mori', literally, remember you must die, is a motif used as decoration of
various articles of silverware in the form of a reminder of mortality, e.g. a coffin, a death's head or a skeleton.
They may be intended as an abstract reminder of death or in remembrance of a deceased person as in
the case of the death's head pomander illustrated in this page.
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