CLEOPATRA'S BOUDOIR

In 1951, the Lucien Lelong perfume company released a special presentation in a new bottle. It was called "Edition Limitee" and only 200 bottles were produced. I don't know what sort of juice  was used in this bottle.

The ad mentions that only a few women in the world had owned the perfume and that it was custom created for them. I think the ad reads that the perfume was being offered at $110. A princely sum at the time!

The flacon is very beautiful from what I can make out in the picture. It appears to be a cylindrical bottle with a whirlwind or tornado shape with gathered dust at the base and at the top? Is this a US issue of Passionement? I can't figure it out?

 Its housed in a clear box and rests on a plinth. Do you have this bottle? If so, let's get that pic on here!

Most French 17th and early 18th century perfume was sold in white glazed earthenware pots. The discovery of the Chinese porcelain-making secrets early in the 18th century made an important new material available for scent bottles, notably those produced at Meissen, Sevres and Chelsea. But even porcelain imitations can have a certain status. Victorian reproductions of 18th-century scent bottles and figures that were rendered by the great French porcelain firm Edmé Samson and Cie—which was famous for its ability to copy pieces with an exactitude that still fools experts in the field—are now sold at auction. A pair of Samson and Cie figures can range from $300 to $500.

These bottles were usually created with human and animal motifs and were highly detailed. In the 18th century many perfumers in New England began to experiment with different sizes, shapes and colors. These antique perfume bottles were also shaped like fruits, animals, birds or flowers.

Around 1900, Mokins of Paris manufactured what is known as a pistolet a parfum, or Perfume Pistol. The pistol refers to the shape of the small striped glass bottles. These glass bottles were blown in Venice, Italy and are extremely light and fragile.  The small bottles were fitted with a rubber atomizer bulb so that the perfume could be sprayed onto the wearer.

The bottles were sold in a fancy silvered metal case lined with red velvet which follows the shape of the atomizer. The perfume bottle had a round gilded foil label embossed with Mokins Paris Bte SGDG. Mokins produced the cases and atomizer fittings and sold them to perfume manufacturers so that they could sell their perfumes in the bottles, which were marketed as "French Perfumettes"..

On one bottle, the original label was still present for the perfume. he label has the words "French Perfumettes Jaspy Buisson Fleuri". The "Buisson Fleuri" perfume  was launched around 1920 by Parfums Jaspy of France.

The perfume presentations were encased in a small chamois pouch. These atomizers were small enough for a lady to carry in her purse. These may have been sold up until the 1930s.

Here are some examples culled from the web:

The usage of a pistolet a parfum goes back to the 18th century when scent bottles or vinaigrettes were in the shape of pistols. 

In this guide I will introduce you to the world of antique English cameo glass scent bottles. These exquisite perfume flacons were popular during the Victorian era and were no doubt very expensive in their day just as they are now. There are some very good and informative websites which can explain the process of making cameo glass, so I wont put that info here.

English cameo glass appeared around 1876.  Acid etching allowed large areas of outer glass layers to be removed relatively faster rather than painstakingly removing it by hand. The carving of the design is achieved in two ways.

First, the outer layer is roughened by acid pitting to provided a key for the acid resist. The pattern is then painted in acid resist layer of wax or some other acid-resistant material such as bituminous paint and repeatedly placed in hydrofluoric acid which removes any area not covered by the resist. Then, the remaining glass is then modelled using small steel points or wheels set into wooden holders to 'carve' the glass. This produced very fine details not seen in French cameo glass.

Nineteenth-century English producers of true cameo glass include Thomas Webb and Sons and George Bacchus & Sons,  though ceramic imitations made popular by Wedgwood's bi-colored "jasper ware", imitated by others from the late 18th century onwards, are far more common. Like Wedgwood's designers, they usually worked in a more or less neoclassical style. Some of the finest English cameo glass artisans were Philip Pargeter (1826—1906) and John Northwood (1836—1902)

 Webb Cameo scent bottles were sold in fine jewelers and will sometimes bear markings with London, Paris and New York on the inside of the presentation cases.

THOMAS WEBB & SONS CAMEO GLASS SCENT BOTTLE, c. 1890's. 6 1/2" Long. 

STEVENS & WILLIAMS CAMEO GLASS SCENT BOTTLE, Mordan & Company sterling cap. circa 1880s.

THOMAS WEBB & SONS CAMEO GLASS SCENT BOTTLE, with Mordan & Co sterling cap. Circa 1885.

STEVENS & WILLIAMS SWANS HEAD CAMEO GLASS SCENT BOTTLE, Frederick Carder circa 1890.

THOMAS WEBB & SONS CAMEO GLASS SCENT BOTTLE, sterling cap,hallmarked Birmingham 1888. 

Some pictures were provided by the following websites:

O'Gallerie

Antique Coloured Glass.org

Antique Centre Online.com

Ceramics Museum

David Issitt

Please take a moment to view their current websites.

This guide introduces you to the gilded, thin blown glass perfume bottles one can commonly find on ebay. I wrote this guide with one idea in mind-- to help educate buyers on what these actually are, where they come from, the age of these, and how they are made. Sometimes there is confusion and some sellers will try to pass these off as antique Victorian era scent bottles. Please note that the bottles shown on this guide are NOT antiques!!! Hopefully, you will find my guide to helpful in your shopping.

These quality bottles are generally made in Egypt as a tourist souvenir and imported gift item. I have also seen some that were made in other areas of the Middle East as well. These mouth blown perfume bottles are easily identified by their very thin,delicate and fragile nature, their handpainted designs, etched motifs and lavishly decorated with 24kt gold paint. Sometimes perfume oils are sold in these unique handmade bottles.

These bottles have been actively made for about 25 years for the tourist trade. Lately these have been produced in Pyrex glass, which makes them very durable and unbreakable. You can find these bottles sold on ebay in the hundreds, as well as on the internet and in gift shops. They would look beautiful displayed on a vanity and filled with your favorite perfumes.

Although, some of them might have the appearance of looking antique and from the Victorian era, true Victorian perfumeswere very different than these Egyptian examples. There are many fine reference books devoted to perfume bottle collecting available to the collector and dealer alike. You can also find these on ebay as well.

Glassmaking in Egypt has its roots in Pharaonic times where it was discovered in Asia, and introduced by the 18th Dynasty (1558 BC).. At first glass was more precious than jewels, and was used in making royal jewelry. It was very likely that the glassmaking process was brought into Egypt by Syrian prisoners of war.

Craftsmen in Egypt learned to create glass vessels by forming a core of mud and sand and pull the molten glass across it like taffy.Once the form was covered, the sides were worked smooth and the container was heated again for toughening in an annealing oven. The core was then scraped out, cleaned, and sent to the "labs" in the temples, where perfumed oils were manufactured.

The Egyptians also knew how to create the beautiful millefiori glass by pulling various colored strands of molten glass and working them into a cable. This cable was then cut up and each piece put together against the walls of the mold, producing the effect of a thousand flowers. This technique was used again centuries later by the Venetian glassmakers of Murano, and it was likewise used for flacons.

Although glassmaking seems to have deteriorated after the 20th Dynasty (1200-1085 BC) and the decline of royal Egyptian power, it flared to unexcelled brilliance after the founding of Alexandria in 332 Bc. The Romans,Arabs and eventually the Italians were to benefit from this tradition.

The revolutionary invention of glass-blowing took place, probably in Syria during the 1st century BC,though the technique did not reach Alexandria until the latter half of the century when it was introduced by the Romans.The new discovery widely increased production and glass then ceased to be either a rarity or upper-class possession.

Blown glass vessels were created by sticking a piece of molten glass onto one end of a blowpipe and through the other by introducing pressurized air into the pipe, this was done by mouth-blowing. At that stage, the art of transformation into attractive shapes began. It was then cut with a copper wheel and ground with emery powder.After the vessel took its shape, decorations were added by pinching the hot glass, adding handles or other features to it,changing simple straight patterns into more intricate ones. After the coloring and handpainting process was completed, the bottles were then put into a furnace with a very high temperature to set the color on the glass so that it is permanent.Afterwards, the bottles are taken out to cool. Then they are ready for sale.

Today's glassmaking has come a long way since the times of the Pharaoh's with new machines and advancements in technology, but the Egyptian craftsmen proudly create their lovely works of art using the same historic techniques and primitive tools as their ancestors for you to enjoy. To look for Egyptian perfume bottlessearch on ebay for the best prices.

The Magnum Import Company was an importer from New York who repackaged French perfumes for sale to the American market during the early 1920s.

A 1922 newspaper ad reads: "MAGNUM is a delightful new innovation in a purse size bottle containing the most ... includes Coty, Houbigant, Caron, Rosine, Dedon, Guerlain, Grenoville, D'Orsay. $1.50"

Magnum was wholly independent from these companies.

The purse sized bottles were NOT designed by Lalique, these were originally attributed to Lalique in the original book Lalique Perfume Bottles by Mary Lou and Glenn Utt. The Utts have since then published an widely circulated addendum retracting their attribution a few years later.

These bottles are of clear glass in an oval shape with prominent shoulders, molded with a reptile skin pattern, long neck without a lip, and a tester stopper with a long dauber. The reptile motif is identical on the backside of the bottle and the stopper has the same pattern. 

The labels were manufactured by the American company Stanley Manufacturing Co, one of the most important creators of deluxe labels, specializing in antique bronze colored metallic labels in high relief embossment. 

Early labels stated: "Magnum of Rue de la Paix, contents made by (perfume company)".

It seems that the Magnum Corp never obtained permission to decant the Perfume Companies' fragrances into their own bottles and Magnum was sued. Later after the lawsuit the labels stated the following: "MAGNUM containing (perfume company name and perfume name) re-bottled by Magnum Import Co. NY NY Wholly Independent of (perfume company)"

 The 3 1/4” bottles were sold in small little satin lined cloth pouches with a snap cover and a label that matches the one on the bottle.

A bottle is also shown in the book Commercial Perfume Bottles by Jacquelyne Jones North and valued at $125.

Another bottle is shown in the 2005 Art & Fragrances Perfume Presentations auction catalog and its estimated value is $960-$1,440 for a rare Guerlain example with pouch.

These hard to find perfume bottles were in use for a very short time as there was a lawsuit in 1923 between the Magnum Import Company v. Coty. (262 U.S. 159). The lawsuit states that "The District Court found that the defendants in all these cases were infringing the rights of the complainants in their trademarks and the use of their trade-names, but thought it sufficient to permit the defendants to continue their rebottling and repacking of complainants' perfumes and powders if, in the form in which resold, the bottles or boxes bore a legend reciting all the facts and not giving any more prominence to the fact that these were complainants' perfumes or powders than to the fact that they had been rebottled and repacked by defendants."

The bottles were still being advertised in 1925.

In this guide I will introduce you to the world of the fabulous antique scent bottles featuring guilloche enamel decoration. These bottles first appeared in the 1890s and continued until the 1930s. From dainty Victorian examples to fabulous Art Deco fripperies of the Flapper, there are pieces to suit anyone's taste.

Many of them are made of sterling silver, silver-plate, German (nickel) silver or brass. Some are for the purse, some are on finger chains, tango chains for the wrist, and some were made for the chatelaine. This guide will focus on the sterling silver examples only.

These scent bottles were made in France, Germany, Austria, England and America. Look on the bottle, the stopper and cap for any markings. Two American makers I frequently see is CO&R and F&B.

Guilloche is a style of enameling in which a continuous decoration is engraved by an engine-turned lathe on a metal surface, and then covered with translucent enamel (fused glass) so that the engraving can be seen through the enamel.

The guilloche enamel was made in various colors, some of the most common colors found are robins egg blue, pink, white and yellow. Some of the rarer colors are lavender, black, red, orange and green. The pieces are almost always further enhanced with hand painted roses or other flowers, or rarely: birds.

Sometimes these were emblazoned with sorority or fraternity crests and probably given out at graduation or formal ceremonies to young grads.

Prices vary from around $125-$300 on eBay based on intricacy of workmanship and exquisite design.

The pictures in this guide are provided by the following eBay sellers:

kajandco

lee3535kins

dreamkeeper220

bina5281

novie_troll

0m_girl

dab1202

In this guide I will introduce you to the world of antique German blown glass scent bottles.

These blown glass scent bottles are easily identifiable by their typical multi colored stripes or swirls in the glass. "Spangled" was the 19th century glassworker's term for aventurine or "lutz" glass.

Other popular decoration is the gold flecked stripes that look like goldstone, also known as Lutz after the artist who popularized it during the 19th century at the Boston & Sandwich Glass Company. This glass isnt actually filled with real gold, but is actually tiny copper particles. The bottles may also have mercury glass stripes or daubers.

These bottles date to around the 1890-1930s and were made for souvenirs, perfume companies and for export. The bottles range in size from just 1 1/4" to 3" and up. Many were meant for a lady's purse or as a laydown bottle for her vanity table. Some were most likley produced by the Bimini Werkstatte founded in Vienna in 1923 by Fritz Lampl and was in business til 1938.

These striped vials were usually used by perfume companies for samples. The vials typically had small glass stoppers with long daubers, brass screw caps or metal crown tops. Occasionally you might find the made in Germany label. Most perfumes would have a gilded and embossed label for the perfume. Some companies that used these are Renaud Paris, Lemieux New York, Babbit Company of Philadelphia,Maison D'Or New York, and others.

Sometimes, the bottles will have gilded brass collars or daubers, but most of the time they are mercury glass. Another interesting type is the metal crown-shaped top sprinkler caps, like the one shown below.

Otto of Lavender, Otto of Rose, Rose Attar, Rose Oil bottles, Oxford lavender bottles, lay down bottles, reclining perfumes...

These types of bottles are known as the throwaway bottles, these long skinny glass bottles often had gilded decorations, these bottles were for the attar or otto of rose or lavender.

These were called throwaway bottles as when the lady of the house returned from the store where she purchased her otto bottle, she would then decant the contents into her own fancy bottles on her vanity or in her chatelaine scent bottle.

The majority of these rather crude bottles were made in Germany, more for the common folk than the wealthy. These were sold at spas, fairs and shops and not made for refill, hence the name throwaway.

Most bottles measure 7” to 8” long and have a ground stopper with a round, flat top. These bottles were usually made of clear glass, but can also be found in blue, amber, green or other colors.

These bottles were blown glass and the stoppers often had a long dauber that reached down near the end of the bottle, the glass was decorated with ovals, crisscrosses, spirals, crosshatching, and flat planes cut into the sides. The bottles were hand decorated with bright enamels or rich gilding.

These are not tear bottles. They were made to hold perfume oils.

Over the last few years I have noticed an influx of fake Galle cameo glass perfume bottles on ebay. The sellers are listing these as "Galle glass" or "Galle style glass". Please be aware that these are reproductions currently made in Romania and China. This guide will illustrate the most common Galle fake perfume bottles you will find on ebay, as well as the internet and gift shops. The bottles below come in various color combinations too.

The fake Galle:

In this guide I will introduce you to the perfume bottles manufactured by the Imperial Glass Co. These bottles are mistakenly identified as Czech, Victorian or antiques. These date to the 1940s and 1950s and are referred to as "Fan Tops" by collectors and dealers. These bottles often have very large stopper in ornate patterns or designs. I have created several guides that are on this subject, each guide will be identified by the glass manufacturer and I have shown some examples of the bottles so you can make your identification easier.

In the 1940s, exportation of Czech perfumes was halted. American importers such as Morlee and Irice were looking for ways to help supply the demand for the 1930s cut glass Czech style perfume bottles. Their answers came from American glass companies that helped fill in the wartime void. These American companies such as US Glass Co, Imperial and others created reproductions of Czech bottles in pressed glass or mold blown glass. Most of the bottles you will find are in clear glass, and rarely you might find them in colored glass. Some people also mistakenly refer these perfumes as Depression glass too.

The perfumes were sold in department stores, drug stores and gift shops as well as thru mail order catalogs. Mail order catalogs of the period offered entire dresser sets with powder boxes, perfume bottle pairs and dresser trays. You might find labels from Irice or Morlee on your bottles.

Companies who /imported/sold these bottles were:

• Irice (Irving Rice Co)
• L. Lauria & Sons
• American Cut Crystal Corporation
• Morlee (De Boer & Livingston)
• Luraline
• MB Daniels & Co
• Elbee Crystal
• Art Glow Creations
• Edward P. Paul & Co
• Block Mfg Co.

These bottles were meant to hold perfume at one end, smelling salts or a vinaigrette at the other. The bottles were made by welding two separate bottles together, then giving the finished bottle polishing and cutting either in simple panels or elaborate designs. Very rarely will you find a hidden compartment in the middle of the bottles, this hinged compartment would have held a vinaigrette. The bottles first appeared in the late 1700s, but it wasn’t until the 1850s that they were in general use. Their popularity waned around 1875 but continued to be manufactured until the turn of the century.

Look closer at one of the clear bottles, it has a hinged middle compartment for vinaigrette.

The majority of bottles were made of clear glass, but deep ruby red, emerald green, and rich cobalt blue can also be found. The more scarce colors of the bottles can be found in glorious purple, vivid apple green, striking Vaseline, and jewel like amber glass. The rarest of all is opaline glass. A true gem is a bottle with one end one color and the other end a different color. Expect to pay a premium for any bottle found in the rare glass colors.

Bottles are generally in a long cylindrical shape, but novelty shapes do exist in rare numbers, some are in the form of cannons, barrels, opera glasses, etc. Sizes for bottles range from 6” long down to a diminutive 1 ¼” long.

The bottles were topped by either ornate, filigreed, repousse, jeweled, enameled or plain hinged flip top or screw caps made of gilt brass, sterling silver, richly gilded sterling silver, gold or other metal alloys. Sometime you will find a carrying chain and ring on the caps for suspending on chatelaines or the finger. The bottles either have screw caps at one end for perfumes, with a little cork or glass stopper to keep the contents from spilling. Some of these stoppers are ingeniously built right into the stopper itself, so a quick snap and the bottle is sealed.

Many bottles were made in England, but some were also made in America and Bohemia. English bottles with sterling caps will have hallmarks, so be sure to look around the collars and underneath the caps for ay markings. One of England’s finest silversmiths, Sampson Mordan & Co is one of the most sought after makers of these perfume bottles, so look under the cap for his marks. His pieces always garner high prices.

Condition plays a part in a bottles value. Since glass is a fragile material, nicks and fleabites can be expected. Larger chips or cracks should be reflected in the selling price. Dents in the caps can sometimes be pushed out by a jeweler, or by you. Sometimes the smelling salts end will have a cloudy appearance due to the ammonia that was in the smelling salts etching the inside of the bottle. This can be hard to remove, but I have had some luck with a product called "lime away".

In this guide I will introduce you to the world of the silver overlay/deposit perfume bottles and the different types available.

Most people use the terms interchangeably, but "overlay" is usually always ‘thick’ whereas ‘deposit’ is usually always ‘thin’.Oscar Pierre Erard of Birmingham, England developed an effective method of electroplating silver on glass and porcelain in 1889. A few years later in 1893, John H. Scharling, an American patented an improved method. By 1895, Americans, the Czechs, Italians, French, English and Austrians were producing exciting glassware with sterling deposit and overlay.

The first type I want to discuss is the late Victorian era bottles. These delicate perfume bottles with sterling silver overlay in Art Nouveau or roccoco designs on glass date from about 1890 to the 1920s. Almost all are American in origin although a scarce few are English. The glass bottles mainly come in clear, and very rarely do you find them in cobalt, cranberry or green. These colored bottles always command higher prices.

Two American companies, Gorham & Alvin, dominated the scene and created some of the most exquisite examples available using thick overlays of sterling silver. They both used glass blanks from the Steuben glassworks. Another honorable mention is the La Pierre company, I have seen some of their bottles, though not as highly detailed as Gorham or Alvin, but nonetheless, beautiful bottles. These higher end bottles usually have an area where a monogram could be engraved, often you will find bottles with owners name or initials in fancy flourishing script. I find this adds a lot of charm to the bottles.

Lower priced examples are made by unknown manufacturers and simply have the silver overlay "painted on". This type often has silver loss on the glass.

I have seen numerous bottles that have cracks in the glass, I suspect this is a common occurence with bottles which have thicker overlay.

In many cases the bottles will show some sort of cracking or damage to the glass. It is rare to find a bottle without any sort of damage and this should be reflected in the price.

Another type of silver overlay bottle is the miniature Mexican silver scent bottles. These small bottles have an almost abstract or floral overlay decorations over clear glass and date from the 1930s onward. They may have been souvenirs or made for the tourist trade. Look for markings for Mexican silversmiths and the fineness stamps.

The third type are the small vials from France. These little bottles are made up of black (amethyst) glass and almost always have a pattern of tiny diamond & daisy shapes made of silver covering the bottle. The base of the tiny bottle is embossed Made in France. The silver filigree screw cap usually has a long dauber and a semi precious stone such as turquoise on the end of the cap. These stand about 1 1/4" tall and sometimes come with a small silver funnel.

The fourth type of silver overlay perfume is the superb examples from Germany. These bottles were made of glazed porcelain that resembled glass and has silver crown shaped sprinkler tops. I have seen these in turquoise blue and a pale pink color and stand approximately 2 1/4" tall. The porcelain was then covered with a thick overlay of 999/1000 fine silver, higher and purer than sterling. The Rosenthal company manufactured these in the 1920s.

All bottles will take a beautiful gleam when polished. I recommend Maas or Wrights Silver Cream and a soft cloth.

Note: all photographs on this guide are from the following ebay sellers: mcmnm, faithann596, maybl49,dhw-antiques, eldreds, roberto0570, therebellwest and snivelyauctions.

In the Caron boutiques, some very precious perfume extraits are housed inside gleaming  Baccarat crystal and ormolu urns. The urns are called “Les Fontaines Baccarat".

Inside the sumptuous urns, are Caron’s haute couture fragrances. Once lost and discontinued, these revived scents are the some of Caron's finest perfume compositions of all time.

 With the ritualistic act of filling the perfume bottle from the fountain,  all of the special heritages of these perfumes live on. The parfums are collected from the small bronze taps into bottles of all sizes, which are then finished with a antique style golden braid.

The urns typically measure 18.5" tall  x 7" wide and have an 8" diameter, the square base measures  5" X 5". The base will be acid stamped with the Baccarat logo. 

In the New York Caron boutique, the 12 Caron fountains, were modeled after the ones in the Caron boutique in Paris. The perfume is sold by volume (7.5 milliliters for $80; 200 for $500). A full urn (which someone did buy in Paris) was for sale for about $10,000 in 2000. By 2009, a fountain containing perfume will set you back at $25,000.

The perfume is decanted right in front of you, and even though Caron does not provide a bespoke fragrance-making service, Natalie Calmettes, Caron's Paris-based creative director, says that it is not unusual for customers to personalise their scent by mixing one or two together. "Both Isabelle Adjani and Madonna come into the boutique and mix their perfumes at the fountains," she says (and Princess Caroline of Monaco is another Caron fan). "It's a way of making your fragrance unique. You can even bring in your own perfume bottle and do it yourself."

This is the current list of urn fragrances:

• Tabac Blond
• N’aimez Que Moi
• Acasiosa
• En Avion
• Les Pois de Senteur
• Narcisse Noir
• Or et Noir
• Rose
• Tubéreuse
• Alpona
• Poivre
• Farnesiana
• French Cancan

Photo used in this guide are courtesy of Fragrantica.com.

A common product found on ebay and other sales venues is the Arpege/Chanel No. 5 Perfumed Writing Pens. 

The pens are ballpoint style and the ink is supposedly scented with the famous perfumes. These pen sets were manufactured in the 1970s.

A 1971 ad reads "Perfumed Writing Pens. Packaging as pictured, beautiful leather covered jewelry boxes. Perfumed refills are specially prepared with Arpege and Chanel No 5 perfume. One writes In Arpege the other In Chanel No. 5. Pens are guaranteed for five full years and beautifully boxed and yours absolutely Free when you open a new No Service Charge Checking Account."

The cases and pens are marked "Arpege and Chanel No 5. 14 kt Gold Exclusive Design."

Please understand that the pens are only plated with 14kt gold and not made up of solid gold. 

Neither Chanel nor Lanvin manufactured these pens and the perfume used to scent the ink inside is questionable at best. I don;t think the two perfume companies even approved of the usage of their perfumes name in the selling of these pens.

A 1972 the A.T. Cross Company sued Jonathan Bradley Pens, Inc. for trademark infringement and unfair competition over the use of the name Lacrosse pens .It was also "brought out at the hearing that defendants distribute and sell pens with "Chanel #5" and "Arpege" printed on them, that they have not secured permission from the owners to use these marks, and have not advised the owners of defendants' use."

So, the perfumed pens were probably only manufactured between 1971-1972 or so, but they appear to have been sold and given away in the thousands as you can regularly find these on ebay any given week.

Czech perfume bottles come in a variety of colors and these in turn help determine their value.

The most rarest of all the colors and the most valuable are:

• Amberina, also known as flame and means it shades from red to yellow.
• Brown, also known as dark amber, other colors can be a chocolate opaque color
• Ivory, also known as white, milky opaline or opaque cream color
• Opalescent, also known as opal, this white color displays a firey glow when held to the light
• Opaque Heather, also known as pinkish purple
• Opaque Orange, also known as coral
• Opaque Turquoise, also known as aqua, greenish blue
• Teal, also known as blue green
• Turquoise, also known as aqua

The second most rarest colors are not easy to find and are high in price:

• Cobalt Blue, also known as deep blue
• Gray, also known as smoke, charcoal, and transparent black
• Heather, also known as pinkish purple
• Opaque Blue, also known as lapis lazuli
• Opaque Green, also known as malachite or jade
• Opaque Red, also known as cinnabar
• Red, also known as ruby, burgundy, cranberry
• Vaseline, also known as uranium and is a greenish yellow color

The intermediate colors are easer to find and are mid range in price:

• Amber, also known as gold, it is a yellowish brown color
• Opaque Black, also known as jet onyx and black
• Purple, also known as amethyst, orchid or violet
• Yellow, also known as topaz, canary, champagne 

These colors are the easier to find, and are in the lower price bracket:

• Blue, also known as sapphire, light blue, ice blue and Luft
• Pink, also known as rose, peach, roseline, rose quartz

The most common, very easily found and the least valuable:

• Clear,  also known as crystal

Collecting tester bottles is a category in itself. Most companies had small glass bottles, fitted with long glass daubers on which a customer could try out the perfume. Sometimes these small bottles were set inside a tester rack, which would be displayed on the perfume counter.

Some of the more collectible testers are the ones for Chanel, Coty, Houbigant and Guerlain.

Here is a great set from LT Piver, dating to the 1910-1920 period.

Here is a set from Coty, circa 1920s.

The following posting is based on historical and relevant perfume information on Black Americana/Memorabilia and is not intended to offend or upset anyone, but rather used as a reference guide.

Black Americana themed perfume bottles remain some of the lesser known collectibles on the market but are slowly gaining in popularity. Once thought of as offensive, they are now being seen as important historical Black Memorabilia and collectors of all races seem to enjoy the little caricatures that were at one time based on stereotypes. Perfume bottles, related trade cards, perfume labels, powder boxes and other related items would look interesting when all grouped together in a vignette.

The height of the Negro themed perfume bottles was in the late teens and into the 1920s. With ragtime music already being played, Jazz was seen as something new and exciting. When French star Gaby Deslys returned home from performing abroad, she brought with her the first all black Jazz band and interest in things negro related were beginning to be produced. The French saw the band as novel and were readily accepting them while Americans were shunning them. In America, the blacks were being stereotyped into everything from watermelon eaters, alligator wrestlers, chubby mammies , black horse jockeys and parodied by black faced minstrel shows. Today, these portrayals may seem politically incorrect to some, but to others they represent some of the early history of the Africans in America.

Elsewhere, the ever gorgeous black American singer and dancer, Josephine Baker and her all Black Jazz band revue toured Paris and gained even more popularity and Negro influenced jewelry, fashions, artwork and other items began to be manufactured by the French.

Le Golliwogg by Vigny:

Best known is the adorable Le Golliwogg by Vigny Perfumeries of Paris, France in the 1920’s. The bottle design and name Golliwogg are directly inspired by a character created by Florence K. Upton around the turn of the century, the English writer based her books on a popular American rag doll. Vigny took the idea and applied it to their perfume line and advertised Le Golliwogg as a “lucky lil fella” and the fragrance as “the perfume of romance.” Michel de Brunhoff was the creative genius who designed all of the Art Deco figural bottles and labels.

Vigny’s bottle stoppers were of black glass with wide open eyes and a red smiling mouth. The top of the stopper was fitted with real seal fur which is not always intact on bottles found today. The rarest of all bottles were the first presentations which had no hair, these are not to be confused with the stoppers found today missing their hair. The bottle, itself, was made by Verreries Brosse and the satin glass bottle was the first made in the series of bottles that were to change over the years. Later bottles were made up of clear glass. Baccarat produced two bottles for the perfume, one is cylindrical #524, and the other a large round, disk shaped bottle #378.

Le Golliwogg’s famous bottle came in several sizes ranging from a miniature of just 2 ¼” tall to the largest , the deluxe size, which stood 4” tall. Other products in the range included: face powder, lotion, and rectangular shaped bottles with stoppers fitted with long daubers. A small bronze and enamel pin can often be found with Golly’s cute face.

The bottle shown on the left is being sold by Stonegate Antiques on Trocadero. The bottle on the right is the Baccarat flacon version of Vigny's Golliwogg and features Golly's face on the label. Baccarat #378 from 1919.

Other lesser known perfumes:

Jasmine by Cameo features a black celluloid stopper in the shape of a stylized black face wearing a top hat, this design must have been inspired by the black minstrel shows so popular at the time. I believe that this bottle may have held other scents possibly by other perfume companies or by Cameo. Photo by eBay seller sylviastresures

Both Golliwogg and Jasmine both feature googly eyed faces with broad smiling red mouths.

Another perfume bottle was made up of glass molded in the shape of an alligator, with an open mouth, its stopper was a stylized African American’s head. During this time, alligators and negros seemed to go hand in hand, shown in a lot of advertising, postcards, valentines and cartoons as well as cast iron banks, and small porcelain novelties made in Germany, Japan and in the USA.

From the early 1900s up until around the 1930s, companies in Germany were producing very thin walled and ultra delicate glass bottles in figural shapes, often of animals, birds and sometimes people, these bottles were used for both perfume and liquor. But every once in awhile, one can find the little fragile Negro figural bottles. Most bottles ranged in size from 2” and up. These bottles were usually sold empty to perfumers in the USA and France, who would then use the bottles to package their own perfumes. I believe that a majority of these bottles were based on the popular kewpie figures that were painted black and named Hottentots.

This cute German scent bottle was recently sold by Stonegate Antiques on Trocadero. Their description is as follows: ”In excellent condition, this little piece of vintage Black Memorabilia, features hand-painted legs, hands, and a very sweet and whimsical face! This piece is diagonally incised "Germany" across the back of the bottle and dates to the 1930's. These sweet little bottles typically experienced a second life as Christmas tree ornaments once their contents were exhausted, and thus, not many survive today!”

One cannot speak about Black Memorabilia without mentioning the first female millionaire, the African American businesswoman and entrepreneur Madame CJ Walker. Madame Walker created her own perfume and toiletry business and employed blacks to sell her products via door to door. This gave her black American employees a sense of pride, independence and accomplishment that they might not have found elsewhere due to the prejudices and restrictions that were placed on them during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

"I am a woman who came from the cotton fields of the South. From there I was promoted to the washtub. From there I was promoted to the cook kitchen. And from there I promoted myself into the business of manufacturing hair goods and preparations....I have built my own factory on my own ground."

Madam Walker,

National Negro Business League Convention,

July 1912

Here is an unused perfume label from Parfumerie Chamberry of Belgium, circa 1920-1925. It features a young black child's head as a prominent design motif. 

The “So Sweet” perfume by Corning & Tappan NY featured a label on the front with a pair of little Black Kids sharing a peppermint stick,. This perfume came out in 1880 and may have been discontinued by 1900. The actual perfume name is “Tho Thweet”, a reference to black dialect with a lisp.

Shown below is a darling vintage glass perfume bottle with a hand painted wooden head stopper; representing a Southern Black mammy figure dressed in a colorful silk dress featuring black faces & watermelon slices. Introduced in 1938, the perfume Picanette was marketed by Karoff (a division of Stuart Products Co.).

Shown above is an adorable celluloid solid perfume pot with the same head as the Jasmine by Cameo perfume bottle. This little perfume pot is marked “Parfume Chypre Concentrate “.

Just after World War I, French glass designer Andre Jolivet started working with different finishes for perfume bottles, he was looking for something completely new and innovative and started working with a substance called “essence d‘orient”. This pearlized tincture was first created by a French artist named M. Jacquin in 1680 and is actually made from guanine crystallites found in the ground up scales of the bleak or herring and mixed with the natural oils of the fish to create a solution named “Essence D‘Orient“.

It takes a hundred tons of herring to extract one ton of herring scales in order to produce a single pound of essence d’Orient. This beautiful, iridescent coating was normally applied to glass beads to mimic Oriental pearls during jewelry making. Jolivet must have seen the potential to create interesting perfume bottle presentations and employed the Nesle Normandeuse Glassworks to create the bottles with the pearly finish. He improved upon the essence d’orient substance and managed to create a new resistant and very realistic pearlized finish “laitance de hareng” (herring roe).

Several perfume companies in France employed this beautiful finish in the making of their perfumes. Companies such as Volnay, Rochambeau, Pleville, Parfums de Marcy and others all used variations of these bottles for their presentations. One notable presentation was for the perfume Perlinette by Volnay, which may have been directly inspired by the laitance de hareng finish.

Rochambeau introduced the Perles de France presentation consisting of a set of 3 small round, pearlized bottles in black leatherette case in 1926. A similar presentation was created by an practically unknown company named Ota, in 1929 for their perfumes Lilas and Violette. 

Other companies capitalized on the faux pearl theme and no one did it better than Parfums de Marcy with their fabulous Trompe l'Oeil presentation named "Le Collier Miraculeux". Launched in 1927, a box containing pearl shaped bottles in graduated sizes realistically mimicked the look of a real pearl necklace.

The inspiration for Parfums de Marcy's presentation must have directly come from Delettrez's String of Pearls presentation for Parfum XXIII from 1923, it look snearly identical in every way to the presentation by de Marcy.

Delettrez String of Pearls presentation for Parfum XXIII of 1923.

Equally pretty was the "Le Collier de Isabey" presentation by Isabey of 1925, with six pearl shaped perfume bottles arranged to simulate a pearl necklace in a demi-lune presentation case. Isabey also made usage of these small round bottles for their individual perfumes such as Ambre de Carthage, Chypre Celtique, Bleu de Chine, Violette, Gardenia and Chypre.

Volnay introduced many of their perfumes in pearlized bottles, starting in 1919 with names such as Lilas, Rosee de Bois, Perlinette, Iris Neige and Firefly. These bottles came in several shapes ranging from simply cylinders, upside down cone shapes and large and small globular pearl bottles, like the ones used by other companies such as Elliot Brother's for their perfume Boronia in the 1920s.

To see many beautiful bottles in full color illustrations, I suggest further reading of Masterpieces of the Perfume Industry and The Art of Perfume, both books by Christie Mayer Lefkowith.

A word of caution, the utmost care must be used when handling any of these pearlized bottles, although the finish was made to be resistant, after 70-80s years, the finish is very delicate and can be removed by cleaning or rough handling. Such actions can result in the loss of finish which cannot be restored.

Boronia by Elliot Brothers c1925

Perfume nips are small plastene or glass vials which hold tiny samples of perfume. The most famous of perfume nip companies was the Nipola Products Company and Nips,Inc. The ends of the vials could be broken off and the perfume would then be applied to the skin or handkerchief.

NIPOLA PRODUCTS CO

The Nipola Products Co.  was established in 1925 by Arthur T. Sinykin in St. Paul, Minnesota. I have read that the Nipola Company was a front for a bootlegging operation., whether this is true or not, the Nipola Company was very famous.

Nipola repackaged famous imported perfumes of the day in addition to creating their own signature fragrances such as Pagan Princess,  Swee-Tone,  and Ramona. Their most famous perfume was in honour of the great Charles Lindbergh. Named Lucky Lindy, the Essence of Luck, this name was registered with the US Patent Office in 1927.

NIPS,INC

Perfume nips were often packaged together and sold in small cardboard cylinders and later, in lucite boxes. The individual nips were available for 10 cents each. Perfume nips were also manufactured by Nips, Inc, of New York, who first sold their Nips in 1921.

Perfume Nips of Coty's L'origan Paris" c1920s

1950s Perfume Nip Cases.

Nips, Inc distributed their tiny ampules filled with rebottled French perfume extracts, first in glass then later in plastene.  They coded their ampules with colored labels or have the ends of each nip painted a color that corresponded to the booklet to tell you what you had. For instance, I have a small booklet that lists the following:

• "Bellodgia by Caron...light green label
• Cancan by Caron...dk lavender & white label
• Chanel Gardenia...yellow & white label
• Chanel No. 5...purple and white label
• Emeraude by Coty..yellow label
• Evening in Paris by Bourjois..orange label
• Fleurs de Rocaille by Caron..light green & white label
• L'Aimant by Coty..light brown and white label
• L'Heure Bleue by Guerlain..navy blue and white label
• L'Origan by Coty..royal blue label
• My Sin by Lanvin..light blu elabel
• Nuit de Noel by Caron...dark green and whit elabel
• Orchidee Bleue by Corday...orchid label
• Paris by Coty....medium green label
• Quelques Fleurs by Houbigant...medium blue label
• Shalimar by Guerlain...dark brown label
• Springtime in Paris by Bourjois...orange and white label
• Toujors Moi by Corday...coral label"

Nips, Inc used beautiful expressions to describe the perfumes that they were selling in this little ampules. A booklet accompanied the ampules and also gave advice on where to apply perfume and how to use perfume. The examples below were found in an early 1930s Nips booklet.

1. Bellodgia: The sublime fragrance of the carnation flower.
2. Cancan: A mysteriously enticing perfume.
3. Chanel Gardenia: Reproduced flower-fresh..provocative of romance as moonlight and distant music.
4. Chanel No. 5: One of the smartest of the famous Chanel perfumes..sophisticated yet feminine and appealing.
5. Emeraude: Emerald richness and brilliance expressed in fragrance.
6. Evening in Paris: The Perfume of Romance, expressing the glamour and mystery of Paris at night.
7. Fleurs de Rocaille: Rock Garden, a supreme fragrance of fresh spring flowers
8. L’Aimant: The Magnet, for great moments..modern interpretation of the Ancients “love philtre”. 
9. L’Heure Bleue: Blue Hour, quiet and magical twilight hour..a perfume worthy of the most formal occasion.
10. L’Origan: Elegant, worldly and sophisticated..with its enticing, provocative charm.
11. My Sin: For informal wear…and perfect for those who prefer to remain softy feminine in the evenings.
12. Nuit de Noel: Xmas Nite, world famous perfume, vivid, enthralling and brilliant.
13. Orchidee Bleue: Blue Orchid, a gaily wicked fragrance, flirtatious but coy.
14. Paris:Fascinating “double note”, its flower fresh charm develops as you wear it.
15. Quelques Fleurs: Universally loved bouquet of Elysian flowers equal to any occasion. 
16. Shalimar: A rich blend of exotic scents combining the lure, charm and mystery of the East. 
17. Springtime in Paris: Light, sparkling fragrance of fresh spring flowers..smart with daytime costumes.
18. Toujours Moi: Always Me, a perfume that whispers with lasting fragrance.

Advice on where to put perfumes, and perfume in general, plus the insistence that rench perfumes are the best to be worn...

• Women of discrimination use genuine French perfumes.
• Among your best friends are your soothing invigorating quality perfumes.
• Apply perfume to your person…never to clothing.
• A dash on brush or comb imparts a delicate fragrance.
• Change of mood, activity or climate..change of perfume
• A perfumed fluff of cotton pinned on lingerie gently diffuses the selected odour.
• On the tips of ears and on the neck..delightful.
• Perfumed hair..put a few drops in the last rinse
• On the fingertips and wrists…memory of your handclap will linger.
• A bit on the lips..helps keep the lipstick smooth and set.
• Bring your artificial flowers to life with quality perfumes.
• On furs..oriental type perfumes are more flattering than floral odors.
• The perfume you love best is the one that expresses yourself.
• On your eyebrows.
• In your stationary and handkerchief boxes.
• Quality perfumes are like rare gems.
• Like fine old wines, your quality perfumes comfort of stimulate as you may desire
• Good taste attracts and holds the worlds good-will.
• You are judged by your perfumes
• Genuine French perfumes are lasting perfumes

Many nips would be found in perfume vending machines during the 1920s-1970s and while available at 25 cents each, others cost up to $5.00. Advertisers of the era used these tiny samples to promote their busineses too as giveaways. 

PERFUME TYPERS

Perfume typers were groups of 40-60+ perfumes packaged in the little hard plastic cases, which when emptied were advertised as cigarette cases. These personal perfume typers contained a guide that helped you pick out the right type of perfume for you. These typers would be given out or sold thru magazines like McCall's or HOME.

Perfume Typer c1950s-1960s

The 32 page booklet included is titled "Your PERFUME GUIDE", and has great information on "The Power of Perfume", "How To Use Perfume", and "How To Type Youself For Perfume". There is also an "Index of Perfume Manufacturers" and an "Index of Perfumes". 

The typer states that all perfumes can be divided into 7 types -there are seven containers, one for each type and each container has 5 "nips" of the most popular scent of that type. 

The procedure, according to this booklet, is to try the seven different types, and one or two of the types in particular will "become" you. The seven types are : Fruity Blend, Spicy Bouquet, Oriental Blend, Single Floral, Floral Bouquet, Forest Blend, and Modern Blend.

Seven Basic Types were each included with a Perfume Typer.

1. Single Florals: These perfumes have a predominant note of the fragrance of one flower, such as rose, violet, lily of the valley, gardenia.
2. Floral Bouquets: As the name suggests, these are a blend of floral scents and may range from delicate, light to rich, heady fragrances.
3. Oriental Blends: These are the exotic perfumes with warm undertones of musk, amber and civet. They vary between predominant floral scents and rich resinous overtones.
4. Modern Blends: Since the basic characteristic of these perfumes is not to be found in nature but was discovered in a test tube, there is no fragrance quite like them. They are clear, cool, sophisticated/
5. Forest Blends: Also called woody or mossy, these fragrances are often characterized by notes of sandalwood, rosewood or cedar, or by grassy or ferny notes.
6. Spicy Bouquets: These perfumes are characterized by the pungent overtones of ginger, cloves, cinnamon and other spices. They may also have spicy floral notes, such as carnation or geranium.
7. Fruity Blends: The distinctive fragrance of these perfumes may be a fresh, airy citrus note or a warm peach like scent.

The booklet says that the nips in these type capsules are the most popular brand of that type, but that they are unlabled so that you won't be inluenced by "price" or "the experience of others".

Then, there are 30 NIPS Bottlettes in the "Bonus Box" that are printed with their "well-known names". Now that you have determined which type of perfume "favors" you, you can look in the perfume index and see which perfumes and their names, are your type. The bonus box has a variety of types so you can test the name brands. 

The kit includes 65 nips total- they are slender Plastene tubes that you break the ends off of to release the scent. T is an extra sheet "How To Use Nips".  The 30 bonus nips are in their own plastic snap lidded box. That box goes inside another plastic snap-lidded box that also contains the seven capsules of nips and the booklet. That box is inside a cardboard 2 part "gift" type box with a piece of tissue and the nip instruction sheet. The only information about the maker of this kit is on page one which reads "Your PERFUME GUIDE For additional copies sedn 25 cents to Perfume Typer, Box 630, Mount Vernon, N.Y. Printed in U.S.A."

Here is a list I have compiled of perfumes that were included in the Nips and perfume typers:

1. Amber by Charbert
2. Aphrodisia -Faberge
3. Arpege by Lanvin
4. Ballerina - Marie Earle
5. Beau Belle - Bourjois
6. Beau Catcher -Suzanne
7. Bellodgia - Caron
8. Black Satin - Angelique
9. Blue Carnation - Roger et Gallet
10. Blue Grass - Elizabeth Arden
11. Breathless - Charbert
12. Bright Secret -Tussy
13. Cabochard - de Gres
14. CanCan -Caron
15. Carnation - Mary Chess
16. Chanel No 5 - Chanel
17. Chypre - Coty
18. Climax- Blanchard
19. Cocktail Dry - Patou
20. Coeur Joie - Ricci
21. Colony - Patou
22. Command Performance - Helena Rubinstein
23. Confetti - Lentheric
24. Confidante - de Monel
25. Conflict - Blanchard
26. Connosieur - Lanier
27. Consent- Charbert
28. Contraband - Tussy
29. Cotilion- Avon
30. Crepe de Chine - Millot
31. Crown Jewel - Matachabelli
32. Cub - Le Galion
33. Danger - Ciro
34. Dans la Nuit - Worth
35. Dark Brilliance - Lentheric
36. Debutante - Daggett & Ramsdell
37. Demi- Jour - Houbigant
38. Desert Flower - Shulton
39. Devastating - Anjou
40. Diorama - Dior
41. Directoire - Charles of the Ritz
42. Discovery - Moneau
43. Divine - D’Orsay
44. Djer Kiss - Kerkoff
45. Dogwood - Roger et Gallet
46. Dona Sol - Renoir
47. Doux Jasmin -Ciro
48. Duchess of York - Matchabelli
49. Early American Old Spice- Shulton
50. Eau de Fleurs - de Léonid Lescinskis Eccusson - d’Albret
51. Electrique - Max Factor
52. Elizabethan - Mary Chess
53. Emeraude - Coty
54. Emir - Dana
55. En Avion - Caron
56. Enchanting Menace - Evyan
57. Encore - Beauty Counselor
58. Endearing - Bourjois
59. Envoy - Lanier
60. Epice - Patricia
61. Escapade- Shulton
62. Esperanto - Lanier
63. Etoile Filante - Henri Bendel
64. Evening Capers - Donat
65. Evening in Paris - Bourjois
66. Evening Star - Blanchard
67. Fabulous - Charbert
68. Fantastique - D’Orsay
69. Farnesiana - Caron
70. Femme - Rochas
71. Femme du Jour-
72. Figurine - Dorothy Gray
73. Fille d’Eve by Ricci
74. Five O’clock - Rubinstein
75. Flair - Yardley
76. Fleurs d’Amour - Roger et Gallet
77. Fleur de Feu - Guerlain
78. Fleurs de Rocaille - Caron
79. Fleur Sauvage - Germaine Monteil
80. Folie de Minuit - Lanier
81. Gardenia - Chanel
82. Gardenia - Mary Chess
83. Gardenia- Patricia Murphy
84. Golden Chance - Harriet Hubbard Ayer
85. Golden Shadows - Evyan
86. Gold Promise by Avon
87. Gold Satin by Angelique
88. Green Orchid - Patricia Murphy
89. High Heels by Tilford
90. Indiscret - Lucien Lelong
91. Intoxication by D'Orsay
92. Jealousy - Blanchard
93. L’Aimant - Coty
94. La Rosa - Patricia Murphy
95. L’Heure Bleue by Guerlain
96. Le Parfum Ideal - Houbigant
97. L’Origan - Coty
98. Magie Noire - Lancome
99. Midnight -Tussy
100. Midnight Mist - Tussy
101. Miracle - Lentheric
102. My Sin - Lanvin
103. Narcisse Noir - Caron
104. No. 3 - Tilford
105. Nuit de Noel - Caron
106. Orcidee Bleue - Corday
107. Orchis de Nuit - Garlands
108. Palomar - Lanier
109. Paris - Coty
110. Private Affair - Lenel
111. Quelques Fleurs - Houbigant
112. Regina Rose - Patricia Murphy
113. Repartee - Lentheric
114. Roman Holiday - Bourjois
115. Secrets of Suzanne - Suzanne
116. Shalimar - Guerlain
117. Shanghai - Lentheric
118. Sharelle - House of Hampton
119. Shining Hour by Jacqueline Cochran
120. Shocking by Schiaparelli
121. Silent Night by Countess Maritza
122. Silhouette - Lanier
123. Sonata -Countess Maritza
124. Sortilege - Le Galion
125. Strategy - Mary Chess
126. Tapestry - Mary Chess
127. Tweed - Lentheric
128. Virtuoso- Lanier
129. White Lilac - Mary Chess
130. White Magnolia -
131. White Mist - Countess Maritza
132. White Shoulders - Evyan
133. Yram - Mary Chess