Guerlain, Jicky, 125 ml. or 4.2 oz. Flacon, Parfum Extrait, Flacon Quadrilobe, Etiquette Laurier, 1898, 1970, 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.

Jicky was first launched in 1889. It is a classical fragrance and, despite the age, it is timeless and still very modern. According to the legend, the perfume was named after a girl Aimé Guerlain was in love with when he was a student in England, and then it was said that the perfume was named after his uncle Jacques Guerlain’s nickname – Jicky. It is more likely, though, that Aimé, a gay man, was hiding his love for someone else named Jacques and someone at Guerlain created the story of a long lost female love to hide his sexuality and to protect the reputation of Guerlain during the late 1800s.

Jicky is classified as a fougère fragrance for women, but can as easily be worn and enjoyed by men. Presented in the quadrilobe flacon, with the Etiquette Laurier, or Laurel Leaf label.

Top notes are Geranium, Lavender, Eau de Cologne Imperiale formula, Lemon, Mandarin, Bergamot, and Rosemary
Middle notes are Mint, Absinthe, Tuberose, Jasmine, Rose, Sandalwood, Cinnamon, Patchouli, and Vetiver
Base notes are Orris, Vanilla, Ambergris and Tonka Bean

Offered here is a wonderful old 125 ml. or 4.2 oz. flacon of this delicious perfume. It has been previously opened and the strings are gone. It smells fabulous. A fairly rare size. No box. There has been very little or no evaporation, indicating an excellent seal.