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5 - Bitter Perfumes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2021

Helen Louise Cowie
Affiliation:
University of York
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Summary

Chapter 5 focuses on four animal products valued for their scent: musk, civet, ambergris and bear’s grease. Musk was an extremely pungent substance extracted from a ‘pod’ belonging to a species of Himalayan deer. Civet was secreted by the animal of the same name and imported from Indonesia and later Ethiopia (then Abyssinia). Ambergris was ‘the morbid secretion of the spermaceti whale’ and could be found washed up on the shore or floating on the surface of the ocean. Bear’s grease was imported from Russia and widely used as a hair restorative in the early nineteenth century. The chapter examines how all of these products were obtained, processed and used and assesses their changing value and popularity. It emphasises both the ecological and humanitarian concerns associated with the harvesting of animal perfume and the persistent issue of adulteration, which repeatedly brought the authenticity of musk, civet and bear’s grease into question.

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Victims of Fashion , pp. 168 - 196
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • Bitter Perfumes
  • Helen Louise Cowie, University of York
  • Book: Victims of Fashion
  • Online publication: 29 October 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108861267.006
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  • Bitter Perfumes
  • Helen Louise Cowie, University of York
  • Book: Victims of Fashion
  • Online publication: 29 October 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108861267.006
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Bitter Perfumes
  • Helen Louise Cowie, University of York
  • Book: Victims of Fashion
  • Online publication: 29 October 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108861267.006
Available formats
×