entertainment for your eyes...

hominisaevum:

1. A seventeenth-century pomander and chain
2. A parcel-gilt silver pomander, made in Italy in the 16th century; features a niello inscription
3. Pomander, gold filigree, enclosing a ball of ambergris. 1600-1700
4. Gold and Silver Pomander, 16th Century

***Pomander - a ball made of perfumes, such as ambergris (whence the name),musk, or civet. The pomander was worn or carried in a vase, 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 belt, 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.

(via cultcult)