perfume

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Image features an ivory colored book cover featuring a pink rose on a leafy stem within a gold rectangle in the center. The word LANCÔME in gold capital letters below the gold rectangle. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
The Scent of French Elegance
In 1935, visionary fragrance pioneers Armand Petitjean and Guillaume d’Ornano opened a luxury boutique, selling a small selection of perfumes and beauty products, manufactured just outside of Paris.  This French perfume company was called Lancôme, its name inspired by the ruins of the castle Le Château de Lancosme near the region of La Brenne in the...
Image features squat round clear glass bottle encased in a gold-toned metal sleeve with six jingling bells around circumference; gold-toned flaring circular foot; removable circular gold-toned metal cap. Separate square, gold foil-covered presentation box and brown cardboard outer box. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
Ting-A-Ling, the Perfume Bottle that Sings
This festive little perfume bottle embodies the creative genius of French couturier Lucien Lelong, active between 1919, when he opened his first couture house, and 1948, the year he retired. Lelong was influential in shaping the world of haute couture throughout much of the twentieth century. Among his contemporaries were Chanel, Worth, Patou, Lanvin and...
Image features Prototype for a two-part package consisting of cylindrical sleeve (a) over cylindrical box (b), both parts with painted decoration depicting colorful birds in an aviary or bird cage. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
Perfume Packaging by the French Couturier
In celebration of our new exhibition The Senses: Design Beyond Vision, this Object of the Day post explores the multisensory experience of an object in Cooper Hewitt’s permanent collection. The name of Lucien Lelong unquestionably conjures up the luxurious world of French fashion. Born in Paris as the son of a textile shop owner, Lelong...
Why Gild the Lily?
The unpainted surface of this perfume burner draws attention to the milky whiteness of the ceramic body. In the mid-eighteenth century, the right to use gold on ceramics was the exclusive privilege of the Vincennes manufactory, compelling Mennecy and other French factories to focus on the sculptural aspect of their production. Unpainted, glazed porcelain became...