[Herbalist] Oranges and Pomemanders?

BJ of NZ bjofnz at yahoo.co.nz
Wed Jan 29 18:40:26 PST 2003


> From the OED:

sorry my ignorence is showing

what is OED and is it availible  in electronic form

 Now, a piece of fruit, esp. an
> orange, stuck with
> cloves and usu. tied with ribbon, which is hung or
> placed in a wardrobe.>   2. a. orig. The case in
which this perfume was
> carried, usually a hollow
> ball of gold, silver, ivory, etc., often in the
> shape of an apple or
> orange.

I've been looking into period oranges and have heard
about a danish import list and A 15 century recipt
calling for the use of seville Orange

has anybody any other references

Thankyou jesemond for this- By oranges I was
specificly refering to the California naval oranges
that are commonly found in Nz

However Oranges ARE period, at least in Italy, (just
how far back I do
not know) and might certainly have differed from our
modern varieties.  Again,
John Babtist Porta refers to them several times:
      An Orange or Citron Tree
      an Orange or Lemon
       the juice of Citrons, Oranges, Onions, or
almost any sharp
things
      "...these are very fit to be Grafted by
Emplastering, and these
kinds of compound Oranges and Lemons are very commonly
to be seen in many
orchards in Naples..."


Apparently the scent of oranges and cloves were both
quite popular in
period perfumery, and the two were often used
together, but I don't know
if/when an orange might first have been studded with
cloves and called a
pomander..

Jessimond


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