The art of perfumery : and the methods of obtaining odours of plants : with instruction for the manufacture of perfumes for the handkerchief, scented powders, odorous vinegars, dentifrices, pomatums, cosmetiques, perfumed soap, etc. : to which is added an appendix on preparing artifical fruit essences, etc. / by G. W. Septimus Piesse.

  • George William Septimus Piesse
Date:
1856
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The art of perfumery : and the methods of obtaining odours of plants : with instruction for the manufacture of perfumes for the handkerchief, scented powders, odorous vinegars, dentifrices, pomatums, cosmetiques, perfumed soap, etc. : to which is added an appendix on preparing artifical fruit essences, etc. / by G. W. Septimus Piesse. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    and a fair criterion, by their form and richness, of the taste and liberality of the owner. The bottles of perfume connected with the common labours of the toilet were called “ casting bottles.” The pomander, which originally was meant only as a preventive of infection, as a camphor-bag is now, but became an article of fashionable luxury amongst people of rank, was a little ball of perfumed paste worn in the pocket, or hung round the neck. They soon became mediums for the most exquisite devices in jewellery, and were frequently offered as complimentary tokens, like the snuff-boxes of the present day. Many pomanders were presented to Queen Elizabeth as new-year’s gifts, and among the list is the some- what puzzling item of — “ A farye girdle of pomander.” Perfumed gloves were also fashionable. Elizabeth had a cloak of Spanish perfumed leather, the value of which may be estimated by stating that pieces of <c Peau d’Espagne ” are now sold by the Bond Street perfumers of London at the rate of one shilling the square inch; even her shoes were per- fumed. The city of course soon imitated the fashion of the court, as is apparent from frequent allusion by the dramatic writers of the time. The extensive and free use made of essences and scents at this period gave rise to numerous satirical observations by the authors of the day. In Anstey’s
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