Sixteenth-Century Pomander This jewel-encrusted pomander was designed to hold expensive aromatic spices brought to Europe through the Mediterranean trade routes dominated by Italians or through the Indian Ocean trade route around Africa dominated by the Portuguese. A wealthy European wore the pomander on a chain at the neck or waist and sniffed it to overcome noxious stenches common in daily life. © Burghley House Collection, Lincolnshire, UK/The Bridgeman Art Library.