Sunday, July 20, 2014

Tresor de la Mer by Lalique for Saks Fifth Avenue c1936

In 1939, Saks Fifth Avenue celebrated the 50th anniversary of the opening of their department store, which had opened in 1889. To herald this achievement, in 1936, they commissioned a special perfume bottle to be created by master craftsman, Rene Lalique.


Lalique answered the call with a fabulous perfume flacon in the shape of a pearl, hidden inside an giant sea shell box, called the Tresor de la Mer, or Treasure of the Sea.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Rose Rouge by Roger et Gallet c1921

Rose Rouge by Roger et Gallet c1921. Just under 4 and 1/2 inches tall with vertical strips of rose decoration and matching stopper selling along with the original box.




Pressed glass bottle molded, each corner is decorated with a semi of stylized roses. Stopper with floral decoration. H 11 cm




Photos from Drouot

Ganika by D'Orsay c1923

Ganika by D'Orsay c1923.

René Lalique (French 1860-1945) FÉE / GANIKA SCENT BOTTLE, D'ORSAY - 27 designed 1923 clear, frosted and black stained moulded RL (8.5cm (3 3/8in ) high)


photo by Drouot



Fleurs Vives by Volnay c1920

Fleurs Vives by Volnay c1920-1925. R. LALIQUE clear glass, molded stopper. Base molded: R. LALIQUE. Stands 5 inches high (12.7 cm). M p. 951, 10.

Two bottles out of pressed glass moulded of cylindrical form (defect with the collar). Molded signature. One joined there the salt bottle of bath. H 19 cm and 13 cm







Photos from Drouot

Rose Ambree by D'Orsay c1920

Lalique Perfume Bottle for Rose Ambree by D'Orsay, 7.5 centimeters tall, rectangular body with a thin notched lines design also echoed in the rectangular stopper in original unopened box. Model: D'Orsay-Perfume-17 Circa 1920.


photo from The Collector


Fleurette Bleue by D'Orsay c1919 and Chupaflor by Dralle c1920

Both commercial bottles. Bottle on left is Fleurettes Bleue by Dorsay from 1919. The bottle on the right is Chupaflor by Dralle from 1920.


photo by Drouot



Naiades for Maison Lalique c1912

Naiades purse perfume flacon, measures 5.7 centimeters tall, round glass with a design of the mythical female figures highlighted by brown staining, c1912. Maison Lalique.

 





Un Air Embaume by Rigaud c1914

Originally Posted on March 24, 2010 at 12:10 AM on my original Cleopatra's Boudoir site.



In 1914, Henri Rigaud became sole proprietor of the French perfumerie Veuve Rigaud, whose name then became simply “Rigaud.” For the occasion, he launched the famous perfume “Un Air Embaumé.” (Perfumed Breezes). It was a remarkable success; 30 years after its creation, its users were still faithful to it.

So what does it smell like? This subtle Oriental fragrance of remarkable finesse and distinction is delicate and persistent with a sharp and dry woody note on amber, created by Marius Reboul of Givaudan.

  • Top notes: green notes, bitter, sweet
  • Heart notes: floral bouquet, creamy notes, powdered almonds
  • Base notes: animal musk, warm amber, cedar, orris, vetiver


Un Air Embaume was solely distributed by George Borgfeldt & Co, an importer out of New York. Products available were: rouge, sachet, parfum extract, face powder, toilet water, talcum powder, solid face powder, and a vanity case.

To illustrate the advertisements, the photographer Mady’s portrayed Mlle Fabrice, kneeling respectfully before a perfume bottle, in an image that was particularly evocative of the voluptuous sensation awakened by the fragrance of this exquisite perfume. Other ads relied on an Egyptian beauty or groups of harem girls to lend a bit of the exotic to their 1920s advertisements.

The sumptuous flacon for Un Air Embaume is very distinct and made up of clear and frosted glass, the sides are molded with nudes rising in smoke from perfume burners, the bottle was then decorated with applied sienna colored patina. The bottle was advertised as being manufactured by Lalique, but there is no existing reference to this being made by Lalique in any of the official Lalique literature. The bottle was actually produced in the Bresle valley in France by the Darras Glassworks.




Photos by Perfume Bottles Auction.



Exportation halted to the USA by WWII, then resumed exportation in 1947. In 1956, a spray mechanism was added to bottles of Un Air Embaume. The perfume continued to be sold until around 1967 then it was discontinued.


A 1926 advertisement reads:
“To the woman of genuine social distinction, only a very few of perfumes are acceptable. Mong them is Rigaud’s Un Air Embaume, a truly continental fragrance of most intriguing personality…Parfum Un Air Embaume and the various other aids, to loveliness bearing this same scent are all created in Paris, Doubtless you know them. Of course you know from the newspapers that this was the perfume selected to scent the Vanderbilt house at the time of the recent Consuelo Vanderbilt -Earl ET Smith wedding.”

Un Air Embaumé even inspired poets; Elie Brachet wrote:

“(…Dans Un Air Embaumé qui grise, Les jours coulent si tendrement Qu’on croit entendre dans la brise L’amour chanter pieusement.”  
“(…With the heady redolence of Un Air Embaumé Days pass with such tenderness That in the soft breeze one imagines one hears The voice of Amor devoutly singing.”

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Dame au Saphir by Arys c1920

Dame au Saphir by Arys c1920, clear glass bottle, frosted, molded glass stopper.




Muguet by Coty c1920

One of the first bottles used was the Rene Lalique designed bottle that featured the double moth/butterfly frosted glass stopper, patinated in brown. This bottle was originally designed by Lalique for the Coty fragrance Muguet (Lily of the Valley) in 1912, but was later used for almost all of the Coty fragrances. I dub this the "Moth Stoppered Flacon". The flacon is a simple square shape, measuring slightly over 3" per side, with straight shoulders, slightly convex, an indented base, a small neck and a fancy molded stopper.

It is listed as Rene Lalique - Model No. Coty-Perfume-16, circa 1910.

This flacon is pictured in the following books:
  • Marcilhac, R.Lalique Catalogue Raisonne, page 929 of the 2011 French printing, under the reference "Coty 19" (photo 9).
  • Utt, Lalique Perfume Bottles, 1990, page 26.
  • Jones-North, Commercial Perfume Bottles, 1987, page 36

The authentic Rene Lalique produced bottles have intaglio molded "long-tail L" Lalique signatures on the base. They were made roughly from 1911 to about 1918/1919. The Lalique flacons came in two sizes: 3.34" tall and 3.93" tall. 


In 1914, to save money, Coty commissioned Baccarat to make the flacons based on the original Lalique designs. This caused a falling out in the friendship which resulted in the two men not talking for 13 years. Eventually, the two friends made up and Lalique designed one last bottle for him in 1927. Baccarat started making the bottles in 1916, the bottle being mold number 307. These bottles have sloping shoulders, not as straight as those found on the Lalique flacons. These bottles should be acid marked Baccarat on the base. Like the Lalique flacons, the bottle also has an elongated oval indentation in the center of the base. The Baccarat bottle can be found standing at 3.25" tall. You can see this bottle pictured in the book "Baccarat: The perfume bottles" by Addor Press, 1986, as #307. 

However, the Baccarat bottles also proved to be too expensive, and François Coty, who was excessively cheap, had the Lalique-copied bottles produced at his own glassworks in Pantin, France. Like those by Baccarat, these bottles have sloping shoulders, not as straight as those found on the Lalique flacons. The bottles made at the Coty glassworks are marked "Coty" on the base either embossed in the glass or acid stamped. Unlike the Lalique and Baccarat examples, the Coty made bottle does not have the elongated oval indentation in the center of the base, presumably to cut costs. The Coty base is flat. 

The Coty marked bottle holds 1.6 oz of parfum and stands 3.25" tall, it was housed inside of a green leather covered box. Another size is 2.75" tall.

Looking at the base is a simple way to differentiate those made by Rene Lalique. This is important to note, because you will undoubtedly come across auctions and sales of these bottles where the seller or auction house claims they are Rene Lalique made bottles.  They were not marked "R. Lalique" so beware of fake signatures applied to old non-Lalique produced bottles.

The beautiful moth stoppered bottle was finally discontinued in 1961. You can read more about these bottles at my Coty perfume bottles website.