This marvelous item is a viniagrette which once hung from a chatelaine which hung, itself, on a lady's waist. It still shows traces of the original gilt, although it is manufactured of a brass or bronze metal. It still contains the tiny sponge which would have been impregnated with a perfumed substance sot hat it could be held up to the nose as one passed through some sort of noxious vapors, thought to be the cause of illness, since germs were not yet understood as a major player in illness. ...click for details
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