Bourjois, Prima Violeta, 300 ml. or 10.55 oz. Flacon, Lotion Tonique, or 'Tonic Elixir', 1890, 1909, Paris, France ..

In 1860, M. Ponsin, an actor, established a shop at 28 place Vendome, Paris, which sold perfumes, toiletries and cosmetics. In 1869, the shop was purchased by Alexandre Napoleon Bourjois and the company was renamed Bourjois. Around 1880, Emile Orosdi became a co-proprietor and in 1898, the business was acquired by Ernest Wertheimer, who had already established a reputation of producing perfumes, theatrical makeup, and a best selling rice face powder called Java. Bourjois invented the first dry rouge in 1890, and marketed the first powder compact

In the 1910s, Bourjois had set up an office in New York City. Manon Lescaut was one of the earliest Bourjois fragrances, introduced in 1907. In 1917, Pierre and Paul Wertheimer took over direction of Bourjois, with a new focus on modern, contemporary style. They wanted to move away from the traditional floral fragrances. Their fragrance Mon Parfum was launched in 1919, with the idea that "my perfume reflects my personality."

The Wertheimer Brothers made a fortune through theatre and vaudeville by selling their products there, and they met Coco Chanel while she was dancing as a showgirl. The Wertheimers cut a deal with her and would also go on to be the owners of Chanel perfumes. Cleopatra's Boudoir.

Launched in 1890, Bourjois created a beautiful Violet fragrance in the Lotion Tonique format. This bottle is from right around that era, perfume from 1910. It took me a great deal of time to open it, as the bouchon was very encrusted and stuck. Finally, when I got it open, the scent of violets rose into the air with unmistakable sweetness.

Violet perfumes are very polarizing. They can smell green, sweet, dry, fresh, old fashioned or modern. Violet pretty's face and delicate leaves conceal a complex fragrance. She is a multi-faceted floral .. the very definition of violet with notes of delicate flowers, green stems, beautiful woods, and fresh leaves. Her scent has graced royalty and her fragrance is found in many, many perfumes.

Violet .. Viola odorata .. carries within flower and leaf the ionones that give the fragrance of the tiny flowers a floral sweetness with powdery and woody notes reminiscent of orris. The absolute of the flowers, which is extremely rare and expensive, is an unparalleled and addictive scent. When the leaves themselves are extracted for scent, the green aroma is rich as a springtime woodland with nuances of cucumber, water, and metal.

The Duchess of Parma, Napoleon’s second wife Maria Louise of Austria, is often associated with the demand for violet fragrances and perfumers of that time pioneered the extraction of the violet flower’s scent in the early 1800s. Perfumers in Grasse also fell in love with the amazing aroma and grew the plant for perfumery using warm enfleurage initially then turning to solvent extraction. The low yield of the flowers and high cost of labor caused floral extraction to be discontinued but flowers continue to be grown in the area for their leaves.

Winning prizes at many World’s Fairs over the years, Roger&Gallet continued to go from strength to strength .. and the founders, in turn, were replaced by their dynamic sons, who satisfied their Parisian clientele’s longing for innovation with lines like Violetta Anthéa, Fleurs d'Amour, and Lilas Blanc, . These were available not only as an eau de toilette and a perfume, but always as a lotion, soap and rice powder. When synthetic molecules opened up a world of possibilities for perfumers in the late 19th Century, meanwhile, Roger&Gallet were at the forefront of modern perfumery, taking advantage of what these new ingredients could do to enhance the naturals which had always been their signature.

Offered here is an extraordinarily rare bottle of this gorgeous violet fragrance. Designed to splash on fairly liberally .. wonderful for men or women. A rare treasure ..