A SMALL COLLECTION OF ANTIQUE SILVER
AND OBJECTS OF VERTU
THE WHAT IS? SILVER DICTIONARY



POMANDER
MEMENTO MORI

pomander, from French "pomme d'ambre", 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



silver pomander



'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.



silver pomander silver pomander
silver pomander 'memento mori' silver pomander 'memento mori' silver pomander 'memento mori'


silver pomander 'memento mori' silver pomander 'memento mori' silver pomander 'memento mori'
silver pomander 'memento mori' silver pomander 'memento mori' silver pomander 'memento mori'



English home page
This is a page of 'The What is? Silver Dictionary' of A Small Collection of Antique Silver and Objects of vertu, a 1500 pages richly illustrated website offering all you need to know about antique silver, sterling silver, silverplate, Sheffield plate, electroplate silver, silverware, flatware, tea services and tea complements, marks and hallmarks, articles, books, auction catalogs, famous silversmiths (Tiffany, Gorham, Jensen, Elkington), history, oddities ...
HOME - SITE MAP - SILVER DICTIONARY - COOKIES CONSENT AND PRIVACY