Roger & Gallet, Salvia, 'Sage', 40 ml. or 1.4 oz. Flacon, Parfum Extrait, 1920, Paris, France ..

Roger & Gallet is a French perfume house founded by Charles Armand Roger and Charles Martial Gallet in 1862. The history of this house actually begins many years before the company was founded.

In 1695 Giovanni Paolo Feminis 'invents' aqua mirabilis. In 1806 Jean-Marie Farina inherits the formula and opens a perfumery in rue du Faubourg-St-Honore. In 1840 he sells the business to Leonce Collas of Goet et Rifflard, who in 1862 transfers it to his two cousins, Armand Roger and Charles Gallet. They changed the company name to Roger et Gallet.

The company made a name for itself with its luxurious bath soaps, which in 1879 first appeared in their signature round shape, with the crinkled silk paper and seal which are still in use today. In the 21st century, the company maintains its tradition of fragrances based on rare plants and essential oils, in chic and distinctive packaging that recalls the Art Deco era. Roger & Gallet now offers a line of perfumes, scented body products and candles, in a variety of scents for men and women. One of these most famous soaps was and still is Œillet Mignardise, a perennial treasure for all discerning French bathrooms.

Launched in 1920, Salvia .. or Sage .. contains elements of a savory, aromatic culinary note with hazy, soft and mildly peppery aspects belonging to the salvia family. The perfume has been created with a scent of lavender, sage and rosemary. The fragrance essentially interprets lavender and sage fields of Provence. Clary Sage has been used as a medical herb throughout centuries, but it is currently grown exclusively for its essential oil which finds its use in perfumery and as a muscatel flavoring for vermouths, wines, and liqueurs. The flowers produce a bracing herbaceous scent that smells like lavender with leathery and amber nuances, thus very popular from old times for perfumed products.

Top notes are Grapefruit, Lemon, and Orange Blossom
Heart notes are Rosemary, Sage, Hawthorn, and Lavender
Base notes are Cedar, Vetiver, Pepper, and Sandalwood

Humans have long gathered and cultivated a variety of sage plants for their oils, but from the medicinal to the spiritual to the culinary, certain members of the Salvia genus stand out for both their strong fragrances and their many uses. Salvias' pungent scents come from the aromatic oils inside their cells. Known as esters, terpenes and aromatics -- or the organic building blocks of scent -- these aromatic compounds are released when a plant's leaves, flowers or seeds are bruised or crushed. Salvia has a long history as an ingredient in perfume, incense, smudge sticks, sachets and potpourri. Salvia is aromatic, resinous, herbal, and camphorous

Offered here is a very rare flacon of this extraordinary perfume. Half has evaporated over time, condensing the deep herbal scent. I have seen this particular flacon with box raise as much as 2000 euros at auction! Collectors ..