Guerlain, Fleur de Feu, 'Fire Flower', 250 ml. or 8.5 oz. Flacon, Parfum Extrait, Flacon Quadrilobe, 1948, 1960, Paris, France ..

The House of Guerlain is one of the oldest perfume houses in the world. It was founded in 1828 when Pierre-Francois Pascal Guerlain opened up his first perfume store on 42, Rue de Rivoli in Paris.

Pierre-Francois composed and manufactured custom perfumes with the help of his two sons, Aime & Gabriel. His unique approach was to personalize perfume for a specific person, place or event. Honore de Balzac commisioned his own eau de toilette during the writing of Cesar Birotteau, and the periodical La Sylphide, le Journal des Elegances, scented each issue with a different fragrance by Guerlain.

Guerlain catered to the high society of Paris, and obtained a very loyal following. The perfume house was so successful that Guerlain decided to open a flagship store at 15, Rue de la Paix in Paris in 1840. The house was at its peak in 1853 with it's fragrance Eau de Cologne Imperiale. This perfume gained Guerlain the prestigious title of His Majesty's Official Perfumer of France. This in turn led him to create perfumes for other royals such as Queen Victoria of England, the Empress Sissi of Austria, the Queen of Belgium and Queen Isabella of Spain as well as other crowned heads of royalty.

Pierre-Francois passed away in 1854 and his sons inherited the perfume house. Aime became the master perfumer, a tradition that would be upheld for the next master perfumer in lineage. Gabriel managed and further expanded the house. Aime, created several fragrances for the perfume house, these include Fleur d'Italie, Rococo, and Eau de Cologne du Coq and his greatest creation, Jicky.

"Guerlain marked its 120th anniversary in 1948 with Fleur de Feu, a floral aldehyde perfume. Technically speaking, aldehydes in perfumery fall into two main categories of sparkling and fruity. Jacques Guerlain's entry into floral aldehydes came with Liu in 1929, similar to Chanel No.5 albeit more tender and powdery. The Guerlain signature, opaque and rich, is in essence anything but aldehydic, and scents like Liu and Fleur de Feu don't strike you as très Guerlain. Yet, in regard to floral perfumes after Liu, Jacques Guerlain chiefly held onto the aldehyde style in Véga, Coque d'Or, and Fleur de Feu, up to and including his last perfume, Ode, in 1955.

If you read reviews of Fleur de Feu, you'll often find it described as a warm carnation scent. However, the note diagram provided by Guerlain doesn't mention carnation or any other spicy-floral note, nor do we sense it when we smell Fleur de Feu. In fact you sense a lustrous accord of aldehyde and jasmine. "Fleur de Feu is very, very aldehydic," remarks Frédéric Sacone. It's not a cold No.5 type fragrance, but more in line with Lanvin's Arpège, with a tempered and delicate, almost transparent, and fresh-honeyed." Monsieur Guerlain

The name Fleur de Feu translates to "Flower of Fire". It seems to imply something powerful and burning which this graceful floral scent is not. The name reportedly was inspired by the idea of flowers rising from the flames, the latter illustrated by the bright white light of the aldehyde top note. Fleur de Feu was Jacques Guerlain's first perfume after World War II, and like any other country, France mourned its wounded and fallen soldiers after the war.

"Fleur de Feu was Guerlain’s first release after WWII, during which his youngest son was killed. The name perhaps relates to the flower of youth going down in flames or flowers rising like a phoenix from the flames of war. Reviews on line mention a spicy carnation, but this is not among the notes listed by Guerlain. The scent is for me another masterful blend of individual notes with no one note standing apart from the others. It is a rich, deep floral. The honey, jasmine and sweet acacia join the tonka and vanilla in giving the overall effect of a warm, powdery softness. The buttery quality of ylang seems to float most successfully over the other notes, never standing apart but mingling and entwining itself among the strands of scent.

Since fire is associated with the color red, one would think that a red rose or red carnation would be the star here, especially since the name is singular, fleur rather than fleurs. This is not the case, so the title continues to baffle, while the warm and re-assuring scent delights. This is a personal scent, a scent of loss remembered, of sweet memories recalled. A scent for the mature man or woman, gentle and evocative of a time gone by, an under-statement of the power of scent to evoke the past within the present. A great rarity, but thankfully still available on line from private seller." Basenotes Review. Jack Twist

Top notes are Aldehydes, Honey, Jasmine, and Bergamot
Heart notes are Lily of the Valley, Rose, Ylang Ylang, Violet, Sandalwood, and Sweet Acacia
Base notes are Orris, Heliotrope, Vanilla, and Tonka Bean

The drydown is velvety and powdery with orris and, typical of Jacques Guerlain, quite musky. Towards the finish, tonka bean and heliotrope emerge, with a touch of gourmand vanilla.

Offered here is a beautiful vintage bottle from around 1960. This perfume is housed in the Quadrilobe Flacon. This flacon was used until 1979. No box.

Highly collectible ..