Case – perfume casket

Fragrances made from natural substances have been known since antiquity. The history of perfume has been documented since the beginnings of the great civilizations –– Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and India. Fine fragrances were attributed with magical qualities. The substances used for their production were astronomically expensive, therefore the perfumes were only available to members of the wealthiest classes. In early modern times, perfumes gained a great deal of popularity in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries at the royal court in France. Perfume was sprayed onto clothes, wigs, household items and entire rooms. It was also used to cure fainting fits. Its method of production was kept strictly secret. Its creators were believed to possess magical powers.
Such valuable substances required appropriate packaging. In this case these are polished glass bottles enclosed in a casket made of exotic wood. [K.Mikucka-Stasiak]