Mastery of Design: A Frog Scent Case, 17th C.

Silver Gilt Scent Case
German, Seventeenth Century
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This silver-gilt scent case was made in Germany in the Seventeenth Century. As you can see, it’s created in the shape of a frog on a leaf. Such a case would have been worn or carried on the person to keep a pleasant aroma at hand at all times during periods when cities and towns didn’t smell so very good.  This one, for example, would have been worn from a chain or ribbon, suspended around the neck, or hung from a matching pin or brooch.  A sponge, fabric or porous material soaked with scent or pot pourri would have been contained in the case and the aroma would have escape through the pierced backing.

The owner and maker of this handsome figure are unknown, but it’s a lovely example of German silver work of the early 1600s.