Pomander Bead from a Rosary or Devotional Pendant

Pomander Bead from a Rosary or Devotional Pendant

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The English name of this object comes from the French pomme d’ambre (apple of amber). In the Middle Ages it would have been filled with perfume or musk and functioned as a belt accessory. A spring mechanism allows the three segments to open and display three female saints, although there is no space inside to contain the perfume.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Pomander Bead from a Rosary or Devotional PendantPomander Bead from a Rosary or Devotional PendantPomander Bead from a Rosary or Devotional PendantPomander Bead from a Rosary or Devotional PendantPomander Bead from a Rosary or Devotional Pendant

The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world. Displayed in both The Met Fifth Avenue and in the Museum's branch in northern Manhattan, The Met Cloisters, the collection encompasses the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome in the fourth century to the beginning of the Renaissance in the early sixteenth century. It also includes pre-medieval European works of art created during the Bronze Age and early Iron Age.