Heart shaped basket made entirely from cloves

Made:
before 1907 in Europe
Heart shaped basket, constructed entirely from cloves

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Heart shaped basket, constructed entirely from cloves
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Heart shaped basket, constructed entirely from cloves, for warding off diseases

This basket is made from cloves. They are the strong smelling and aromatic dried flower buds of the tree Caryophyllus aromaticus. This basket was made to ward off disease, especially during epidemics. It was thought by some that disease was spread by foul smells and that the strong odour of cloves repelled the vapours. Today, clove oil is used as a home remedy for toothache as it has pain relieving qualities.

Details

Category:
Classical & Medieval Medicine
Collection:
Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
Object Number:
A629436
Materials:
cloves and string
Measurements:
overall: 66 mm x 130 mm x 157 mm, 0.198 kg
type:
basket
credit:
Fosters