thers pink or rose-colour or
blue. Little picture scenes are varied with the quaint mottoes or
sentimental lines so much in vogue then.

The illustrations given in Fig. 63 are typical of the choicer
decorations, showing the floral style as well as the pictorial miniature
scenes for which the artists of that time were famous. Some of the
toilet sundries took the form of scent bottles, others etui cases and
boxes for toilet requisites, including manicure sets.

Perfume Boxes and Holders.

Perfume has always been associated with the requisites of the lady's
toilet. Sweet-smelling spices are referred to in biblical records, and
even to-day the offering of perfume is a symbol of honour to the guest
in the East; and some very beautiful Oriental scent sprinklers and spice
boxes are now and then met with among Eastern curios. The long-necked
rose-water sprinkler is the most common form, supplemented by betel-nut
boxes and receptacles made by Persian artists for the famous attar of
roses. Scents and "sweet odours" became fashionable in Europe in the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; articles of clothing were scented,
and there was a profusion of scent for the hair and in making the
toilet.

The pomander box, the favourite perfume holder of the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries of England, was in the form of an apple, the
perfumes and spices being made up like a ball. It is said that the
perfume was prepared from a sixteenth-century recipe, the basis of which
was sweet apples or apple pulp, and scented gums and essences. From the
pomander box smaller receptacles were evolved, and more elaborately
prepared scents were kept in them. Some of the preparations consisted of
camphor, mint, rosemary, and lavender in vinegar, a piece of sponge
being saturated with the liquid. Then came the use of aromatic vinegar,
and gradually beautiful little silver vinaigrettes were introduced. Many
of them were very ornamental in shape, highly decorated with miniatures
and floreated embellishment, the monogram or name of the owner often
being added. In the outer case was usually a cover of perforated gold
which closed over a piece of sponge, upon which aromatic vinegar or some
similar preparation was poured. The best vinaigrettes are those bearing
the hall-marks varying from 1800 to about 1840, when the making of
vinaigrettes declined and other scents took their place.

The burning of perfumes in bedrooms and the fumigation of wardrobes and