About this lot

Description

London 1865, in the form of a mace nut with engraved panelled outer segments representing the red and black colour of the nut and hinged cover, the interior with hinged steel rasp and sufficient room to store a nutmeg, 40mm in length 0.8ozt

Footnote: Mace is the bright red and black shell that surrounds and encloses the nutmeg. Mace can be dried and then ground into a coarse powder that turns a reddish colour. The nutmeg is either dried and left whole and packaged for grating, or dried and grated fresh. This example is designed to resemble mace with sufficient room for the nutmeg to be stored within, as it is in nature. Nutmeg became popular in the 17th and 18th centuries amongst the upper classes when it was added to alcoholic beverages such as punch, 'cyder', pale wines and ales. At that time, it was the fashion for men to carry a nutmeg within a pocket-sized silver container equipped with a steel grater, in order to add freshly grated nutmeg to their drinks wherever they may be. Adding nutmeg to drinks was not just to enhance the flavour; in quantity, it is a mild hallucinogenic.

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