Guerlain, Fleur Qui Meurt, 'Dying Flower', Violette, 75 ml. or 2.5 oz. Flacon, Parfum Extrait, Flacon Fleuri, 1901, 1930, 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.

Launched in 1901, Fleur Qui Meurt, literally 'the Flower that died', is where the present and nostalgia come together in this final moment of a fleeting flower which makes his last breath by indulging the perfume. Jacques Guerlain already expressed his extreme sensitivity in the olfactory treasures that reveal a maturity and an art in certain assay and mixtures.

It is classified as a powdery floral chypre musk fragrance for women. It features powdery violets over a musky chypre base.

Released during the Belle Époque, the perfume was a bold and poetic experiment by Jacques Guerlain. Rather than attempting to extract a natural violet essence, he composed the scent around synthetic ingredients. The fragrance serves as an olfactory metaphor for the cycle of life and death, evolving from a vibrant floral bloom into an organic, almost decaying dry-down of musk, patchouli, and vetiver.

Top notes are Violet, Costus, Helioptrope, Reseda, and Geen Notes
Heart notes are Jasmine, Orris, Violet, and Vetiver
Base notes are Patchouli, Oak Moss, Cassie or Sweet Acacia, and Musk

Harper's Weekly, 1903 published: "Guerlain who levies upon the flowers alone to yield to him their filmy treasures, has succeeded in obtaining the quintessence of exquisite Violet perfumes in his delightful "Fleur Qui Meurt." Cleopatra's Boudoir

"It seems to me that Jacques Guerlain has demonstrated the aesthetic dimension of perfume, its artistic nature, by working on decomposition. In Fleur qui Meurt, indeed, the animal notes .. from the costus root and the musks .. are used both to summon the desire and to describe the death assimilated to the corruption of the flesh. Jacques Guerlain gives a lot of importance to costus root in Fleur qui Meurt. Its composition, quite simple, starts from a violet flower, very deep and powdery, with many facets ranging from green to creamy. That is why it is necessary to suppose that violet balm supplements the ionones. In addition, at the end of the course, the flower has a very oily smell, surprisingly tenacious against the competition of powerful musks, which forms, in addition, an agreement with the costus note ... " Lavinia

This exquisite perfume is an earthy violet treasure. The notes are so perfectly preserved as the bottle has never been opened and I can smell it at the neck. Extremely rare! I have collected many violet perfumes over the years, and I don't think anything can quite match this one! Highly collectible. Long discontinued, the last bottle was made in 1941. Offered here is an opportunity to purchase an amazing piece of Guerlain history .. beyond description .. Presented in the Flacon Fleuri by Pochet et du Courval, bearing the Avenue de Champs Elysees label .. the delicate baudruche is perfectly intact .. No box ..