CLEOPATRA'S BOUDOIR

Throughout the ancient world the Egyptians were famous for their scents and perfumes. The country was considered the most suitable for the manufacture of such commodities. As the distillation of alcohol was not known until the fourth century BC the scents were extracted by steeping plants, flowers or splinters of fragrant wood in oil to obtain essential oil, which would then be added to other oils or fat. The materials were placed in a piece of cloth which was wrung until the last drop of fragrance had been retrieved. Alternatively they were boiled with oil and water and the oil skimmed off.

As for the oils, there was a wide choice, the most commonly used being moringa, balanos, castor oil, linseed, sesame, safflower, and, to some extent, almond and olive. According to Theophrastus, who made a thorough study of fragrant substances in an essay entitled concerning odours, balanos was the least viscous and by far the most suitable oil, followed by fresh raw olive oil and almond oil.

One of the most famous Egyptian 'perfumes' was made in the city of Mendes in the Delta, whence it was exported to Rome. It consisted of balanos oil, myrrh and resin. Dioscorides adds cassia. The order in which ingredients were added to the oil was important, as the last one imparted the most pungent scent. Theophrastus mentions as an example that if one pound of myrrh is added to half a pint of oil, and at a later stage one third of an ounce of cinnamon was put in, the cinnamon will dominate. The secret of the Egyptian unguent-makers was obviously to know at which precise moment to add the various ingredients, and at which temperature. The Mendesian 'perfume was known as 'The Egyptian' par excellence. Unlike many others, it was left its natural colour. It had the added advantage of keeping very well: one perfumer in Greece had had a batch in his shop for eight years, and it was even better than the freshly made 'perfume'. Once applied to the skin it lasted well, too. As Theophrastus said: 'A lasting perfume is what women require'. If 'The Egyptian' was found to be too heavily scented, its strong odour could be lightened by being mixed with sweet wine.

Metopion was the name of another Egyptian ointment, Metopion being, according to Dioscorides, the Egyptian name of the plant from which galbanum was derived. It consisted of oil from bitter almonds and unripe olives scented with cardamom, sweet rush, sweet flag, honey, wine, myrrh, seed of balsamum, galbanum and turpentine resin. The wine apparently entered the preparations either to soak the herbs, or to give a certain 'point' to the ointment. According to Dioscorides the best Metopion was the one that smelt more of cardamom and myrrh than of galbanum. In medicine the ointment was considered generally mollifying, heat- and sweat-producing, and it was used to 'open the vessels', draw and purge ulcers and to treat cut sinews and muscles.

The most highly prized perfumes of the ancient world came from Egypt. Of these, arguably the most popular were Susinum (a perfume based on lily, myrrh, cinnamon), Cyprinum (based upon henna, cardamom, cinnamon, myrrh and southernwood) and Mendesian (myrrh and cassia with assorted gums and resins). Mendesian was named after the ancient city of Mendes, and although the perfume was produced in other locations at a later date, the best variety was still thought to be that from Mendes.

They also loved Stakte, a perfume with a fairly stronge aroma of myrrh, Rhondinium (based on the highly popular scent of rose) and a scent simply known as "the Egyptian" which seems to have been based on cinnamon and myrrh with sweet wine. Perfumes were generally stored in beautiful alabaster bottles, but there is also some evidence that blue glass bottles may also have been used.

• "Priestesses richly adorned,
• Anointed with myrrh, perfumed with lotus,
• Their heads garlanded with wreaths,
• All together drunk with wine,
• Fragrant with the plants of Punt,
• They danced in beauty, doing my heart's wish,
• Their rewards were on their limbs."

--Tomb of Wennefer. M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol. 3. p.56

In one creation myth the lotus was the first thing to emerge from the waters of Nun, bringing with it its perfume. Gods were since associated with fragrant smells, chief among them Nefertem who was closely bound to the blue lotus, a symbol of life and immortality [11]. A New Kingdom hymn praising the short-tempered son of Sekhmet describes him as the soul of plants and tutelary deity of perfumers:

"I invoke Nefertem, in the following of Ptah [9]. Thou art the guardian and protector of the perfume and oil makers, protector and god of the sacred lotus. Osiris is the body of the plants, Nefertum is the soul of the plants, the plants purified. The divine perfume belongs to Nefertum living forever." --Hymn to Nefertem, 18th dynasty

Steve Van Toller, G. H. Todd: Fragrance: Psychology and Biology of Perfume, 1992 Springer, p.290

It was perfume, among other things, which put the king in a position to join the gods:

"O King, I have come and I bring to you the Eye of Horus which is in its container(?), and its perfume is on you, O King. Its perfume is on you, the perfume of the Eye of Horus is on you, O King, and you will have a soul by means of it..."--Pyramid Texts, utterance 687

Raymond Oliver Faulkner, 1910, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, 2004 Kessinger Publishing, p.296

Interestingly, Egyptian kings appear not to have been anointed when accessing to the throne, while high officials were when they were appointed, as were the Canaanite vassals during the late Bronze Age [12].

Ordinary mortals, above all when they congregated in large numbers, were often less fragrant. Egyptian cities, like all cities ever since, were smelly places. The smoke of cooking fires, sometimes stoked with dried animal dung, hung over the houses. Rubbish tips were filled with decaying produce and the occasional rotting animal carcass; sometimes they were set alight and left to smoulder. Animal dung and human excrement, which in the countryside could simply be buried, was not as easily disposed of cleanly in built-up areas. Body odour, obnoxious to many modern Westerners, was a fact of life in the hot climate, despite the much vaunted (and probably also much exaggerated) cleanliness of the populace [7].

These kinds of bad smells may have pained the ancient Egyptians, who were used to them, less than they do us. Still, they liked nice flowery and aromatic scents and became masters at producing them.

In ancient times, the perfumes the most esteemed of all were those of the island of Delos, and at a later period those of Mendes. This degree of esteem is founded, not only on the mode of mixing them and the relative proportions, but according to the degree of favour or disfavour in which the various places which produce the ingredients are held, and the comparative excellence or degeneracy of the ingredients themselves.

.........

"As to perfume of cyprus, that from the island of Cyprus was at first preferred, and then that of Egypt; when all on a sudden the unguents of Mendes and metopium rose into esteem. In later times Phoenicia eclipsed Egypt in the manufacture of these last two, but left to that country the repute of producing the best unguent of cyprus."--Pliny the Elder, Natural History, Vol. XIII. Chapter 2

Ingredients

Excerpt, source: JMFA 1, 1989

The ingredients were both homegrown and imported. Punt, seemingly a region in the vicinity of the Horn of Africa, was the source of aromatic woods, incense and myrrh. In the Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor the lord of the Island of ka summed up the situation:

"You are not rich in myrrh and all kinds of incense. But I am the lord of Punt, and myrrh is my very own. That Hknw-oil you spoke of sending, it abounds on this island."

M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol. 1. p.214

Myrrh is a resin produced from shrubs of the orders balsamodendron and commiphora native to southern Arabia and eastern Africa. Attempts were made to grow frankincense trees, Boswellia sacra, locally, but don't seem to have been a great success. The frankincense itself is a fragrant gum resin harvested from the tree.

"I planted for thee plentiful tribute of myrrh, in order to go around thy temple with the fragrance of Punt for thy august nostrils at early morning. I planted incense and myrrh-sycamores in thy great and august court in Inek-Sebek, being those which my hands brought from the country of God's Land, in order to satisfy thy two serpent-goddesses every morning."--Papyrus Harris. J.H. Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, Part Four, § 333

Incense was apparently also made from locally grown plants: Ramses III supplied his august father Atem, lord of the Two Lands of Heliopolis with 34,000 measures of papyrus [rind (?)] worked into incense [2].

There were various kinds of incense (some may be simply different names for the same material) such as ihmut, sonter, and green incense (possibly galbanum),mentioned in documents from the reign of Thutmose III, and white incense (seemingly frankincense), and inflammable incense which were listed as donations by Ramses III.

Flowers used for perfumes were indigenous (white lily and lotus) or of foreign origin (jasmine from India, narcissus). [13]

Most of the ingredients were of plant origin, but the use of animal fats is also known. jb, a salve or perfume mentioned on the Stela of Sekerkhabau at Saqqara, was written with the sign for kid (little he-goat), jb, which has led to speculations that the inscription was referring to musk. Similar problems exist with many ingredients mentioned or depicted in Egyptian sources: they have never been identified in more than the most tentative way. One has therefore to rely on Greek and Roman authors but their information is sometimes either unclear or unreliable. Dioscorides mentions

• root of iris
• bitter almond oil and ointment (metopion)
• cardamoms
• balsamon which may have been Mecca balsam
• oil of lilies
• balanos oil
• myrrh
• and cassia
• 
  
• Pliny writes about
• unguent made from cyprinum, which he claims to be an Egyptian tree
• the unguent made of elate or spathe, the fruit of the adipsos palm
• ladanum, an import from Arabia
• the Syrian storax or styrax, a balsam made from Liquidambar orientalis in Asia Minor
• turpentine resin
• the malobathrum oil [8]
• and galbanum, a gum-resin made from Peucedanum galbaniflorum native to Persia.

The treatment of the raw materials depended on their use. Perfumes were applied as oil-based salves or liquids. Incense was given the form of small pellets which could be burned.

Manufacture

Reliefs on the walls of the tomb of Petosiris [3] who lived during the early Ptolemaic period, depict some of the aspects of perfume making. In the top register of the line drawing on the right a worker pours red berries from a jar under the supervision of an overseer dressed in blue. Another man piles the berries onto the mound while a third is holding one fruit in his hand, possibly trying to extract the kernel.

The bottom register bears the inscription Perfumers making resins. On the left, two men are, as the accompanying inscription explains, crushing the fruit of Punt. The men on the right appear to be stirring some brew or mashing ingredients.

The top register of this relief displays (from left to right) an old man with wrinkled forehead smelling the contents of a vessel held by a worker, another worker pouring perfume into a jar with handles under the watchful eye of a foreman and a third one bringing two containers to the supervisor.

On the left side of the bottom register of this drawing, a worker is stoking the fire in an oven on which a pan is placed. A second worker is stirring the contents of the vessel—according to the accompanying inscription he is mashing the fruit of Punt. On the right the perfumers making resins of agreeable odour are filling jars with the help of little bowls.

Two perfumers are expressing essences, the woman on the left is carrying lily flowers

4th century BCE

Source: Brun op.cit. p.279

People used a bag which was twisted with the help of two staffs as a press. (The same system was employed in wine production for squeezing the last drops of grape juice out of the pulp.) Scent essences were extracted in two ways: mechanical and chemical, generally a combination of both. Flowers, roots, berries, chunks of resin etc. were first mashed or ground up and then either pressed to squeeze the scents out or steeped in grape or palm wine in order to dissolve the fragrant alcohols. Sometimes the ingredients were heated.

As a base for scented oils they used ben oil made from seeds of the moringa, horseradish, colocynth, a tropical climbing plant, sesame and after its introduction from the east, olive oil [1]. The Libyan oil, often identified with the kiki, the malodorous castor oil, was probably less favoured in perfume production, though it was very useful for lighting lamps.

Margaret A. Murray in Saqqara Mastabas describes recipes of a few ancient perfumes:

At Edfu there is a text which gives elaborate directions for making the heknu perfume, giving the exact weight of every ingredient. The principal ingredient is the pert nezemui, "Fruit of the sweet tree," which may be myrobalanus or malobathro of Pliny, as from the fruit of both these plants an oil is expressed. The ingredients of the perfume are:

• pert nezemui
• Anti-resin (i.e. frankincense) of two qualities
• Ab-resin
• Ket-plant
• Tesheps plant
• Wood charcoal
• Sheben-plant
• Best wine of the oasis
• Water
• Nenib-resin

All the dry materials were to be pounded and sifted before being mixed with the wine. The pert nezemui was to be pressed and boiled over a quick fire, then it was added to the other ingredients, and the whole compound was boiled again, and poured off into a khebeb-vessel. The whole process took about eleven days.

Another recipe is given for the Nezet perfume. This is possibly a late name for one of the sacred oils of these lists (Murray refers here to the list of the Seven Oils she mentioned earlier in her book). A sacrificial ox, ceremonially pure, is to be slaughtered and the fat cut off with a clean knife. The fat is to be melted and poured into a stone vessel. When all impurities are removed, it is to be perfumed with herbs and mixed with the wine of the Oasis; this mixing is to be done in a golden vessel with a gold and silver implement. The fat is then to be cooked with aromatic herbs, and coloured red with the flowers of the Nesti and Nemi plants; when finished it is to be poured into a stone vessel.

Margaret A. Murray, Saqqara Mastabas, Part I, p.31

Applications

"Every day they make a triple offering of incense to the Sun, an offering of resin at sunrise, of myrrh at midday, and of the so-called cyphi [5] at sunset."--Plutarch, Isis and Osiris, § 52 [6]

The gods favoured sweet smells just as much as did humans. Moreover, the burning of incense covered the smell which arose from the animal offerings. The temples received allocations of raw materials such as oils, myrrh, incense and blooms and prepared their final products in their own workshops: fragrant salves for medicinal purposes, oils for mummification, ointments for the unction of statues and incense to be burned as offering. The unguent of divine mineral for instance, a mixture of incense, bitumen and minerals, was used to anoint divine statues.

Mummies were anointed with perfume to bestow life upon them and render them acceptable to the gods. This had also the happy consequence of making the process of mummification, which could last for up to several months [10], more bearable.

"I buried my father the count, Zau, beyond the splendor, beyond the goodliness of any [equal (?)] of his in his South. I requested as an honor from my majesty of my lord, the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Neferkere (Pepi II), who lives forever, that there be taken a coffin, clothing, and festival perfume for this Zau."--J.H. Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, Part One, § 382

Propitiating the gods was crucial in the treatment of disease. Good smells attracted them, while at the same time they repelled the demons causing the illness.

In the Ebers Papyrus there is a receipt for another perfume (kyphi [5]) made of dried myrrh, juniper berries, incense, gyu plant, twigs of mastic, fenugreek, nebyt of Northern Syria, yukun, and zemten plant, ground mixed, and cooked. It was used for perfuming houses and clothes, or when prepared with honey and made into pills it was used by women for perfuming the breath.--Margaret A. Murray, Saqqara Mastabas, Part I, p.31 [4]

Private persons, both women and, possibly to a lesser extent, men seem to have used perfumes on every-day occasions. In New Kingdom pictures revellers at parties are depicted sniffing lotus flowers [11]. Sometimes the flowers are shown hovering over their heads.

Excerpt. Courtesy Jon Bodsworth

The cones they are carrying on top of their heads are often thought to have been fragrant grease cones, though it would be more reasonable to assume them to be a pictorial convention.

[1] Jean-Pierre Brun: "The Production of Perfumes in Antiquity: The Cases of Delos and Paestum" in American Journal of Archaeology, 104.2, April 2000, p.278

[2] Papyrus Harris in J. H. Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, Part Four, § 294

[5] According to Dioscorides kyphi consisted of ten ingredients, Plutarch, seemingly following Egyptian sources quotes sixteen:

Kyphi is a compound composed of sixteen ingredients:

• honey
• wine
• raisins
• cyperus
• resin
• myrrh
• aspalathus
• seselis
• mastich
• bitumen
• rush
• sorrel
• both the junipers, of which they call one the larger and one the smaller
• cardamum
• calamus

These are compounded, not at random, but while the sacred writings are being read to the perfumers as they mix the ingredients. As for this number, even if it appears quite clear that it is the square of a square and is the only one of the numbers forming a square that has its perimeter equal to its area, and deserves to be admired for this reason, yet it must be said that its contribution to the topic under discussion is very slight. Most of the materials that are taken into this compound, inasmuch as they have aromatic properties, give forth a sweet emanation and a beneficent exhalation, by which the air is changed, and the body, being moved gently and softly by the current, acquires a temperament conducive to sleep; and the distress and strain of our daily carking cares, as if they were knots, these exhalations relax and loosen without the aid of wine.

......

Kapet (better known by its Greeks name Kyphi) was one of the most popular varieties and seems to have been in use since the Old Kingdom. As well as its pleasing scent, it was thought to heal snake bites and cure bad breath and asthma. One recipe for this incense was recorded in the Ebers Papyrus (c. 1500BCE)

Ihmut incense, sonter incense (both from Punt) and green incense (thought to be based on galbanum from Persia) are listed in records from the reign of Thutmose III, and priests during the reign of Ramesses III recorded both white incense (probably based on frankincense) and "inflammable incense" in a list of offerings.

There is also a type of incense known as jb (referred to on the Stele of Sekerkhabau from Saqqara). The name was written using the hieroglyph for kid (a young male goat) leading some to suggest that it was based on musk.

According to Plutarch the Ancient Egyptians burned frankincense in the morning, myrrh at midday and Kyphi (Kapet) in the evening. In addition certain gods were associated with specific types of incense (for example, Hathor was strongly associated with myrrh) and certain types of incense were used for specific ceremonies.

Some of the ingredients were home-grown, but many had to be imported. Hatshepsut recorded a trading expedition to Punt on the walls of her mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri. The expedition was a great success, delivering aromatic woods and spices for the creation of incense and perfume. This expedition was also a great public relations coup because the Egyptians favoured exotic imported fragrances like myrrh, frankincense, cinnamon, cassia and Galbanum. The Egyptians tried to establish their own frankincense trees, but this doesn´t seem to have been very successful.

Wood was also in short supply in Egypt, and they were particularly fond of cedar wood from the Levant. Balsomon (probably Mecca balsam) can be found in southern Arabia and eastern Africa, and iris, lotus (water lily), lemongrass, and rose were also popular (although the lotus was only rarely used in ritual incense). They also seem to have used papyrus rind to created incense.

Incense ingredients were either ground and thrown on hot coals or mixed with dried fruit (such as raisins or dates) and formed into small pellets to be burned.

"They use kyphi as both a potion and a salve; for taken internally it seems to cleanse properly the internal organs, since it is an emollient. Apart from this, resin and myrrh result from the action of the sun when the trees exude them in response to the heat. Of the ingredients which compose kyphi, there are some which delight more in the night, that is, those which are wont to thrive in cold winds and shadows and dews and dampness. For the light of day is single and simple, and Pindar says that the sun is seen "through the deserted aether." But the air at night is a composite mixture made up of many lights and forces, even as though seeds from every star were showered down into one place. Very appropriately, therefore, they burn resin and myrrh in the daytime, for these are simple substances and have their origin from the sun; but the kyphi, since it is compounded of ingredients of all sorts of qualities."--Plutarch, Isis and Osiris, § 80 [6]

[7] Herodotus was much impressed with the cleanliness of the Egyptian priesthood at least:

"They drink out of brazen cups, which they scour every day: there is no exception to this practice. They wear linen garments, which they are specially careful to have always fresh washed. They practise circumcision for the sake of cleanliness, considering it better to be cleanly than comely. The priests shave their whole body every other day, that no lice or other impure thing may adhere to them when they are engaged in the service of the gods. Their dress is entirely of linen, and their shoes of the papyrus plant: it is not lawful for them to wear either dress or shoes of any other material. They bathe twice every day in cold water, and twice each night; besides which they observe, so to speak, thousands of ceremonies".--Herodotus: Euterpe, 37.1

[8] As trade relations with the east became more developed Chinese dried malabathron leaves were imported from India and an aromatic oil was expressed which was then re-exported to Rome. (Joan Pilsbury Alcock, Food in the Ancient World, 2006 Greenwood Press, p.62)

[9] Ptah, Sekhmet and Nefertem formed the Triad of Memphis.

[10] The process generally took seventy days (cf. Mummification).

[11] Some of the fragrant essences (incense and blue lotus for instance) also had intoxicating components, which may have been one of the reasons for gods (and people) liking them as much as they did.

[12] Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions, 1997 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, pp.103 ff.

Horst Dietrich Preuss Old Testament Theology, 1995 Westminster John Knox Press, p.318

[13] Georges Tsoucaris, Janusz Lipkowski, Molecular and Structural Archaeology: Cosmetic and Therapeutic Chemicals, Springer 2003, ISBN 1402014996, pp.30ff.

Eugene Rimmel's Book of Perfumes appeared in London in 1865, and almost simultaneously in a Parisian edition. The work by this writer/perfumer was the most accurate and clear presentation of the industry to appear at that time. The book was especially clear on the use of perfumes in the East-a subject that was beginning to pique the European imagination. The paper used in the book was itself perfumed.

Eugene Rimmel also created Perfume Almanacs. Their pages filled with illustrations of flowers, the ever so famous Language of Flowers and other interesting tidbids.

This original 1863 almanac advertises E. Rimmel of London and Paris. It is printed in exquisite color and metallic gold accents with meticulous attention to detail. Like all the Rimmel almanacs that I have seen, this one has a theme - THE LANGUAGE of FLOWERS.

Each of the six interior pages features a beautiful lady from a different country surrounded by flowers - each also has a two-month calendar, a four-line verse, and a small vignette that represents the featured country. The countries represented are Russia, France, England, Germany, Spain, and Turkey.

The back cover has a vignette of the Rimmel perfume fountain at the Crystal Palace Exhibition and lists the company's products, including perfumes, soaps, toiletries, dentifrice, and perfumed Valentines.

Also specifically mentioned in the booklet is that it was printed using a special process - probably an early example of multicolor chromolithography.

3 1/2" x 5 1/8" open.

Another type of almanac was in the shape of a fan. This rare 1875 Fan from Rimmel's Perfumery, Paris, has fabulous caricature figures for each month, the condition is not great as there is quite a lot of age discoloration, especially on the back (second picture) but the graphics are wonderful but not signed, each section is 4 3/4" x 2 1/4".

When making potpourri one can try the dry method of collecting dried flowers or the wet method. A second type of potpourri, called a "moist pot potpourri" or "sweet jar," is made by mixing fresh, scented herbs in brandy. The herbs are left in a jar with a lid that allows the brandy to evaporate. In olden times, it was made by letting fresh, fragrant plant parts rot into an aromatic cake, thus the origin of the name pot pourri which means "rotten pot."

Recipes for a "Sweet Jar":

'1/2 lb. Bay salt, 1/4 lb. saltpetre and common salt, all to be bruised and put on six baskets of rose-leaves, 24 bay leaves torn to bits, a handful of sweet myrtle leaves, 6 handfuls of lavender blossom, a handful of orange or syringa blossoms, the same of sweet violets and the same of the red of clove carnations. After having well stirred every day for a week add 1/2 OZ. cloves, 4 OZ. orris root, 1/2 OZ. cinnamon and 2 nutmegs, all pounded; put on the roses, kept well covered up in a china jar and stirred sometimes.

'Put alternate layers of rose leaves and Bay salt in an earthern pot. Press down with a plate and pour off the liquor that will be produced, every day for six weeks, taking care to press as dry as possible. Break up the mass and add the following ingredients well pounded and mixed together: Nutmeg, 1/4 OZ.; cloves, mace, cinnamon, gum benzoin, orrisroot (sliced) 1 OZ. each. Mix well with a wooden spoon. The rose leaves should be gathered on a dry, sunny afternoon, and the Bay salt roughly crushed before using. Orris root may be replaced With advantage by good violet powder.'

Besides the ingredients mentioned in these various recipes, the following may also be added: leaves of Basil, Bergamot, Mint, Lad's Love or Southernwood, Santolina, Costmary, Bog Myrtle, Anise and Sweet Woodruff and Cowslip and Agrimony flowers. The dried petals of Cornflower, Borage, Broom, Hollyhock and Marigold and any other bright petals that, though scentless, keep their colour when dried, are also often added to give a brighter and more attractive appearance to the mixture.

Sweet oils and essences played an important part in the recipes of a hundred years ago, as, for example, the following formula:

Four grains of Musk, 1 OZ. of Pimento, crushed Cloves and powdered gum Benzoin, 80 drops of oil of Cassia, 6 drops of Otto of Roses, 150 drops of essence of Bergamot and the same quantity of oil of Lavender, the whole being thoroughly worked in and mixed with whatever petals are handy.

Another recipe (which was used by an oldfashioned Scottish chemist for some fifty years) was purely a liquid one, the essences consisting of Musk, Vanilla, Sandalwood, Patchouli, Verbena, Neroli and Otto of Roses. The mixture was bottled and sold under the all-bracing and appropriate title, 'A' the floers o' th' gairden in a wee bit bottle.'

Novelty containers of this period included 'Oiselets de chypre' , the "birdies of Cyprus". The birds were supposed to be made from a recipe of the harems. a solid perfume mixture, originally made famous in the twelfth century, cinnamon, amber and tragacanth, molded in the shape of a bird. Other composition of those birds was reported in 1721 to include: willow charcoal, roots Cyperus, labdanum, sealant, incense, styrax, marjoram, cinnamon, clove, sandalwood citrine, red roses. These were then burned.

These were stored inside little silver or gold hanging cages, small lanterns or small boxes. Some of the boxes were made of porcelain, gold, silver, glass or enameled. In the Middle Ages, birdies of Cyprus, scented balls, made in the shape of birds, perhaps even covered with feathers of birds, and they burst to spread the powder scent

Tout Mon Jardin Pot Pourri Sachet by Richard Hudnut was launched in 1914.

It was a mixture of various flowers that made up a beautiful potpourri.  It was packed  in a  glass jar with a lovely floral label. The top cap was made of gilded metal and very ornate. There is a front label showing a gold basket with pink and red roses along with some blue and white flowers. The label reads "Tout Mon Jardin Pot Pourri Sachet Richard Hudnut New York Paris". The back of the bottle reads with raised lettering Richard Hudnut New York. Both sides have a raised double circle with an R and a reversed R inside the circles. Sometimes you can find this with a stamp on one side that reads ----"Proprietary United States Internal Revenue Series of 1914 2 ½ cents.".

An advertisement  from 1914 reads:

“Potpourri Sachet is a new creation just out, so fragrant and so nearly akin to the sweetness of the natural blossoms as to establish a charming rivalship. It is the most lasting of all sachets and will perfume the whole house if emptied into a bowl. “

These bottles came in two sizes, 5" tall and 6" tall.

Salesman's samples for perfumes and beauty products don't come for auction as often as command high prices when they do.  Salesmen and ladies would bring the products directly to the customer door to door style to get them to try out the products and then order the products they wished, which would then either be delivered by the sales agent or shipped from the manufacturer to the customer.

Most of us are familiar with the Avon lady calling, but few know about other companies that pushed their products in the same manner during the late 1800s and into the early 1900s.

the fact that someone would specially come to your home and demonstrate how to correctly use the product and sometimes apply it to your skin, this one on one attention is almost a thing of the past. It still lives on with Avon and Mary Kay, as well as Jafra and other smaller companies.

It is much easier to find vintage salesman kits of American original than those of France and other European countries. I think that the American's just weren't up to speed with all of the perfume boutiques that were cropping up everywhere on the Continent, so salesmen would bring the goods to the customer.

You could also order kits directly from the companies, that were advertised in magazines and newspapers of the day.

Here is a great looking vintage box of Harriet Hubbard Ayer cosmetic samples. The box measures about 4 7/8" x 2 7/8" x 1 1/8". Inside there are samples of Ayeristocrat Theatrical Powder, Luxuria Face Powder, Beautifying Face Cream, Skin and Tissue Builder Massage Cream, Luxuria Cosmetic Marvel (Cold Cream), and Ayeristocrat Vanishing Cream. This beautiful set sold on ebay back in 2006.

This is an incredible find. This is a salesman sample case of Coty perfume complete in case. 12 bottles and 2 face powder samples. Includes: Paris, Jasmin de Corse, Chypre, L'Oilellet France, L'Aimant, Amber Antique, A'Suma, Le Vertige, Styx, La Rose Jacqueminot, Cyclamen, and Emeraude. Each bottle was acid etched Coty on the base and were made by Coty's own glassworks in France. Included in the case were the two face powder samples for Severose face powder and Coty Tan face powder, each in it's own glass vial. The perfume bottles measure 2 1/8" tall x 1 1/4" wide and have glass stoppers with daubers. The case has a faux leather covering over wood. The inside top is lined with brown velvet. Each bottle has its own compartment . It closes with a snap. The case measures 11 1/4" long x 4 1/2" wide x 1 1/8" deep. The set came with an award and business card from the salesman who sold Coty perfumes from 1930-1943.

Vintage salesmans sample kit for "Mary King Demonstration Size. The J R Watkins Co Winona, Minn 3/8 oz Made In USA" on each bottle. Each bottle has a different type of scented talc in them. All full with metal screw top which has a slide to sprinkle with. Bottles 2 1/2x 1" dia and in great shape. The cardboard box has dividers to seperate bottles. With blue lid, the box measures 3x7.

In the 1930s-1960s, you could purchase your favorite perfume from a special vending machine that was made to sell fragrances. For just 10 cents or a quarter, a small vial could be had of the popular perfumes of the era. Names like Chanel No 5 and Evening in Paris were some of the more common scents that were sold.

Here is a nice vintage 1940's-1950's revolving perfume vending machine, manufactured by Perfumes Guild of Amer,Inc. Carson City, Nevada. Made up of metal and has a plastic cylinder. Measures 18 x 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches. This item sold on ebay in 2006.

Browsing old ebay auctions, I came across a beautiful antique light up sign that was used by Richard Hudnut to advertise their perfumes and toiletries.

According to the 2007 auction listing, it still worked and lit up. The sign measures approx. 17 1/2" x 5" at the rectangle base and about 6 3/4" high to the top of the front rose accent. It is a gold color metal. The front top has a pretty decorative accent of roses with the Hudnut logo. Below the light up area, is a fancy draped design. The glass ribbed front is in good condition. No breaks. The base swings open to reveal the original 2 red light bulbs. The on/off switch is located on the back area.

I thought that this was a very unique and beautiful piece. If you collect perfume bottles and related items, something like this would be a neat addition if you can find another.

Pictures will be up very soon.

I did a little more research and found a Myrurgia light up sign for their perfume Maja. This piece probably dates to the 1960s-1970s and was used on a perfume counter to draw attention to the product. Made of heavy cardboard and plexiglass the lamp measures 16" x 8" x 12". One side shows the Spanish Lady holding her fan, the other side is the lighted Maja sign. The base is deep enough to display Maja perfume bottles and soap.

Here is a vintage pair of display lamps for Schiaparelli, circa 1940s, in clear glass with gold detail and painted vellum shades. The candle-shaped bottle for "Sleeping" perfume forms the base. Used at Place Vendome salon. Ht. 9 1/2 in. These sold in 2003 at Rago Arts & Auction Center.

One overlooked category of perfume collecting is the display/tester racks. These displays were placed on the counters so that customers could try the various scents by one company. Today, these are somewhat hard to find and bring high prices at auction.

Tester racks could be made of many materials including glass, wood, brass, nickel, bakelite, celluloid, lucite and other plastics.

Lalique created what I consider to be the finest tester rack. It was made up of gorgeous frosted crystal for D'Orsay in the 1920s.  It was one solid piece of glass with five hollowed out wells which held various perfumes, you could apply the perfume with little daubers with flower tops. Size apprx. 8-3/4" long by 1- 1/2" tall.

The body of this display and the carry handle are all chrome. It has sections to hol dnine perfume bottles. The front of the display is etched with the name HOUBIGANT and the backplate is painted hunter green. The underside is painted matte black. Each sectioned opening measures just under 1 1/2" across. This set was sold on ebay in 2007.

Every now and then I see a beautiful box which held perfume from long ago. People collect these boxes for many reasons: the rareness of the perfume name, company, the artistic style of the box, or they have the bottle and need the box to complete the presentation.

Boxes for holding perfume bottles come in various materials from wood, celluloid,leather, shagreen (sharkskin), mirrors, bakelite, lucite, silk, satin, wicker, cardboard/pasteboard and different types of metal.

Companies like Delettrez used fabulous metal presentation cases, made up of white metal which were given a bronze finish. These beautiful boxes were often designed by famous French artists of the time. Dralle oftentimes contained their tiny perfumes in metal cases designed as lighthouses for luxury editions, their most common bottles were wooden and in the stylized shape of a lighthouse.

Mirrors played a role in presentation cases. Both Lucien Lelong and Worth used mirrors on presentations for Mon Image and Je Reviens in the 1930s to convey an Art Deco style that has not been imitated by others.

In the 1950s, Marquay offered a limited edition of their Prince Douka perfume, it was contained inside of a carved mahogany case with a African theme. Roger et Gallet sold their Cigala perfume and soaps in wooden boxes pressed with an Art Nouveau cicada.

Nina Ricci's Fille d've perfume came nestled inside a satin lined wicker basket in 1952.

The manufacturers:

The firm of Joseph Albessard of France was in business during the 1920s manufacturing boxes, graphics and labels for perfume companies. The company employed Front, Wuitz, Paule Richard and Bernard Naudin  (who also worked for Paul Poiret). The company participated in the 1925 Paris Art Deco Exhibition and were bankrupt by 1932.

Rene Bergeron was a manufacturer of superior quality perfume boxes, starting in 1890.

Berlan, Lederlin et Cie were manufacturers of metal accessories including those made in metal anglaise (a term for aluminum) with antique silver patina, and a variety of brass covers for perfume bottles. The company was established in 1867 and mainly produced powder and soap boxes in an artistic style. The company also produced jetons, metal money stamps for use in France during the 1920s.

Another firm, Albert Pierre, manufactured metalware, and mostly aluminum perfume boxes, and brass stopper covers for clients such as Rigaud and Roger et Gallet.

The manufacturer F. Bouvet et F. Gaud made luxury perfume boxes, most notable client was Bourjois. They were established in 1893 as Maison A. Coste et Cie. The company was succeeded by Felix Grasset around 1921, the company manufactured plastics including Bakelite for usage in combs, jewelery and Bakelite perfume boxes for Bourjois.

The company BTCIC, also known as BETCIC, a glassworks in France who was active after WWI, who made bottles, labels and total presentations for companies such as Caray, Parfums Paul, Eroy and others. 

Honore Rey, manufactured specialty boxes, leather covered perfume boxes that resembled jeweler's cases. Their most notable client was DuBarry.

The company of Saillard made paper boxes and labels for luxury productions, including the Lucien Gaillard presentations for Veolay/Violet. 

G. Cassard  manufactured boxes and papers for perfume companies, established in 1893, the company specialized in cylindrical boxes, probably for Isabey and Godet.

Maison Cotigny  made luxury presentation boxes using many intricate models. This company also participated in the 1925 Art Deco Exhibition in Paris along with another box manufacturer Flament & Devallon who made many complex geometric models.

The firm of Gaston Jeanbin of 38, rue Sainte-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie, were printers and publishers, who also made boxes and labels for perfume companies for their luxury productions and participated in the Art Deco Exhibition in 1925 along with Laurent, Bona,  Bicart, Sardou et Chatelan, 27 avenue de la Grande-Armée, who also made luxury boxes and won a Grand Prize at the Parisian Exhibition.

Also present at the Exhibition was Marboeuf & Cie, a deluxe box, label and paper manufacturer with notable clients such as Cadolle, Chanel, Gabilla, Vivaudou, Rigaud and Roger et Gallet.

Chanel also used the luxury presentation boxes of Jean Martin, who also supplied Bourjois.

Caron's presentation boxes came from important manufacturer Marius Milou & Cie, who also  produced leather, paper and textile boxes for other perfume companies.

Veuve H. Seguin et Aubert manufactured luxury production boxes  and was present at the 1925 Exhibition.

One of the most important producers of boxes and labels was the printing firm of Sennet et Cie. Their most notable clients were Erizma, Gilot, Isabey, Lengyel, Sauze Freres and Vibert Freres. The company was established in 1853 as H. Deschamps.

I the 13th century, ladies started wearing gloves as accessories to their high fashion ensembles. These fashionable accessories were made up of silk or linen and sometimes reached to the elbow.

However, such worldly accoutrements were not for holy women, according to the early thirteenth-century Ancrene Wisse, written for their guidance. As a result, sumptuary laws were promulgated to restrain this vanity: against samite gloves in Bologna, 1294, against perfumed gloves in Rome, 1560.

A corporation or guild of glovers (gantiers) existed from the thirteenth century in Paris, where gloves were called gants. They made their gants in skin or in fur. 

In the 16th century, gloves were all the rage. Queen Elizabeth I herself set the fashion for wearing them richly embroidered with gold and studded with jewels. The  Earl of Oxford, Edward Vore, brought her a pair of perfumed gloves as a present from Italy and she immediately made him one of her favorites and she had her portrait painted waring them. She also is credited as the first to use them to draw attention to her beautiful hands by putting them on and taking them off during audiences. And at New Year's, Good Queen Bess always received pairs of perfumed gloves. Spanish ladies of' the 1500's wore perfumed gloves known as "sweete " when appearing In court.

In Paris, the gantiers became gantiers parfumeurs. They perfumed gloves with various scented oils, musk, ambergris and civet, they were first mixed with fatty base that was smeared inside the gloves, this served not only to perfume the gloves but to soften the hands of the wearer as well. Some of these early gloves were scented with frangipani essential oil and were known as Frangipani Gloves. 

Their trade, which was an introduction at the court of Catherine de Medici, was not specifically recognized until 1656, in a royal brevet. Catherine de Medici, had an official fashion a pair of gloves, that were not only perfumed but were also poisoned. She presented them as a gift to the mother of Henry IV.

When Anne of Austria died. in 1666, a part of her legacy was 300 pairs of perfumed gloves.

Shakespeare made mention of perfumed gloves in his writings. Hero says to Beatrice" Those gloves the count sent me, they are of an excellent perfume."

In 1949, designer and perfumer, Marcel Rochas introduced pink kid gloves scented with roses so that women could spread the sweet fragrance with a flick of the finger. They were said to be perfumed during the tanning process. They could be reperfumed after cleaning with with a a glove shaped paper blotter "refill". Other colors that were available were white, blue, chartreuse, all printed with a black lace pattern, a symbol of Marcel Rochas, each color glove  perfumed with its own scent.

At least a few times a month I get a question on how does one use a perfume sachet. Perfume sachets come in two types -

• #1.  a powdered talcum impregnated with perfume
• #2. is a small bag holding herbs and dried flowers

The first version was made for over 100 years by perfume companies as an addition to their perfume lines. These powdered perfumes were meant to be contained in small silk or satin sachet bags. Roger et Gallet made lots of these. Other sachets were of a liquid type meant to be worn on the skin, especially after bath. Often you can find these by Prince Matchabelli in crown bottles.

The second version are little bags, made up of any cloth, from lace to silk which contained the dried herbs, flowers and leaves. Usually one end is tied so that the sachet pouch could be opened, the contents removed and replaced with fresher ones. Popular fillings for sachets are rose petals, lavender flowers, orris powder, orange flowers and peels, jasmine flowers, rosemary, star anise, cinnamon sticks, cedar chips, or any other fragrance herbs and flowers. 

After making your sachets you can add pieces of ribbon so that you can hang them.

What uses are there for sachets?

• Fasten them to linings of hats to perfume them and you rhair
• Hang from hangers to subtly perfume your garments and keep away moths
• Keep them in your glove or hanky box
• Store them in your underwear or lingerie drawer
• Store them in your clothes drawers
• Stuff them into your shoes
• Pin them inside the linings of your coats
• Put them underneath cushions of your sofa
• Tuck them into your linens when you are done pressing them and before you store them
• Put one under your pillow

Today I came across a gorgeous printer's block for Langlois's Cara Nome perfume. The bottle and label were crisp. The printer's blocks are made up of zinc or copper and most have a wooden backing. related collectible themes would be powder, talc, soap,  lotions, toilet water, cologne, and various advertisements and billheads for companies or perfume names. I never thought about these before and I think they would make a great addition to anyone's perfume collection.

Cara Nome by Langlois, Photo courtesy of ebay seller type-tiques

Colgate's Cashmere Bouquet, photo courtesy of Damosel's Printers Blocks