Perfume Bottles

34SPECIALTY PERFUME BOTTLESPerfume jewelry, like other jewelry,can take any wearable form. It can mean anyjewelry with a well or pierced back toaccommodate filling with actual scent or,more recently, can mean any jewelry with abottle motif or jewelry issued bycommercial perfume companies, usually inimitation of that company’s perfume bottles.The range of perfume jewelry is enormous,from antique pure gold perfume pins andrings to modern plastic pins that hold tinyminiature bottles.Dresser sets and boxed sets: Duringthe 18th and 19th centuries, handsome andhighly decorative small chests or casketswere made in England and on the Continentto hold matched sets of scent bottles fortravel or for protecting the expensivecontents at home. The boxes themselveswere often made of luxurious importedwoods or caskets of glass and metal with orwithout semiprecious stones. Sets were alsomade for racks with locks called“Tantaluses.” Novelty sets were made ininfinite forms, including cruet sets and cartspulled by “coolies.” Colognes and toiletwaters are less expensive to produce and donot last as long as perfume. Therefore,cologne bottles can be differentiated fromperfume bottles because they are larger. Setsfor the dresser usually contain cologne andlotion bottles and powder jars, andsometimes even candlesticks and hairreceivers, as well as perfume bottles.DeVilbiss dresser set of four matchingpieces: two 6.7” perfume bottles, an atomizerand a dauber bottle in teal blue with goldenamel on gold metal foot and stem withmatching powder box and 11” tray, c1930s$1900Powder Jars: Some powder jars weresold separately. Others were designed to bepart of dresser sets with matching perfumeand cologne bottles. They range in valuefrom Depression Era examples, which sellfor less than $25, to Lalique and Galleexamples, which are extremely costly.1.6” Green crystal powder box, the coverintaglio cut with cupids, on jeweled metalbase, marked with Hoffman butterfly, c1930s$700Perfume Buttons: These are buttonsmeant to be sewn onto clothing. They areusually metal with pierced designs. Ascented cloth is inserted into the back of thebutton and the perfume wafts through theholes in the button.NoveltiesSchuco, a German manufacturer ofstuffed toy animals, made darling monkeysand bears of mohair with movable limbs,whose heads came off to reveal a long tubewith a cork stopper for holding perfume.As early as 1820, Englishmanufacturers delighted in making noveltyshaped bottles, with and without silvermounts. Some were the porcelain varietyalready discussed. Others were in the formof nuts, fruit, eggs, shells, musicalinstruments, shoes or hands. Creativeartisans even used natural nuts and shellstopped with metal mounts to cater to theVictorian curiosity about nature.