Insights

Porcelain scent bottles: made in the East finished in the West

The origins of porcelain can be traced in China during the Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD), with further refinements in production techn...
Read more

My number 1

Like Scrooge McDuck, I also have my number one, that is, the sketch bottle that gave a boost to my collection and defined its crit...
Read more

The origin of a passion

My passion for ancient or vintage perfume bottles (defined decorative scent bottles by international collectors to distinguish the...
Read more

Beautiful inside and out

What always amazes me when I look at a small antique object, such as scent bottles, is noticing the extreme care with which they a...
Read more

A little masterpiece by Oscar Pierre Erard

Rare opaline "gorge de pigeon scent bottle in form of a horn; the elaborate Arabesque/Persian design is the work of Oscar Pierre E...
Read more

A scent bottle in a Victorian painting

I discovered the pre-Raphaelite pictorial movement during my first visit to the UK, many years ago.
Read more
antique scent bottles

My collection

I started my collection of scent bottles more than forty years ago. Made of different materials over a long period from antiquity to 1940, they now comprise a collection of over 1200 pieces produced mostly in Europe, but not only. All containers are no taller than 9 cm (3 inches).

Silver scent-jar in closed pomander form

Scent-jar in closed pomander form, in silver with chased floral ornaments. It opens in four parts: the bottom contains a sponge th...

Crystal scent bottle with Napoleonic portraits

Cut crystal scent bottle with white ceramic paste inlays, with a double portrait of Napoleon and his second wife Marie Louise, lat...

Ivory scent bottle with two carved portraits: Emperor Costantine and his wife Fausta Flavia Maxima

Ivory bottle with rich carved decoration of foliage and acorns, partially eroded by time. On the front the profile of a man with a...

Blue glass scent bottle enclosed in a elaborated openwork cage showing two Saints. Rare closure

Blue glass flat-round scent bottle enclosed in a gilded silver openwork cage showing on the front Saint Ulrich (identified by the ...
Discover All collection