Scraps Of Mind

On the Scent – Vintage Perfume Bottles

The second of my collections to get its turn in the spotlight is my vintage perfume bottle collection.

I don’t collect the ‘comercial’ type bottles (although I wouldn’t turn up my nose at a nice Lalique specimen). I prefer the sort of bottles that perfume used to be decanted into. The only exception is my silver topped Chanel No 5 bottle that I picked up at a market in Provence.

I have bottles mostly ranging from the mid 19th century to the 1950s and some of my favorites are pictured below.

I love the shape of the two cut glass deco bottles at the back with their over-the-top stoppers, both acquired on trips to Sydney (and yes, it rained both times). The long skinny bottle with the silver lid is a late 19th century one and the oval silver and mother-of-pearl one is a French bottle from the 1870s which I bought in the Loire Valley in France. I love the ring attachment so you could wear it on your finger.

The flat round porcelain one is a bit of a mystery, as it has no marks but I’m told it is from the early 1900s. The stopper is missing unfortunately and it looks like it once had a cord that went through the mounts on the side, but even so it still ranks amongst my favourites.

The red bottle and the little blue box are more modern from the 1980s. The red one is Murano glass from Venice and the blue one is from Limoges in France.

As you can tell I like to pick up vintage perfume bottles as souvenirs of places I’ve travelled to. They make very special mementos as each day I look at them on my chest of drawers, as I’m getting dressed for work, and I’m immediately drawn back to those wonderful holidays.