Vintage 1940s Houbigant Perfume Bottle Transparence - Open/Empty - 3 1/2" Height

Description

Welcome to Marie's Vintage Perfumes.  This store is a collection of vintage perfume bottles from the estate of Marie-Louise Fredyma, my mother who passed away in 2010 after nearly 70 years in the antique business.  Marie's perfumes were a special place in her collection of antiques and vintage items and are now offered for sale as part of her estate.
This listing for a non-MLF estate item. The items belong to another person that has asked me to list them for sale.
Description:
Vintage 1940s Houbigant Perfume Bottle Transparence - Open/Empty - 3 1/2" Height
.
Provenance:
This listing for a non-MLF estate item. The items belong to another person that has asked me to list them for sale.
Background Houbigant:
Jean-François Houbigant (1752-1807) launched his perfume business at 19, Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Paris, in 1775. Houbigant was twenty three years old at the time and — so it is said — arrived at the location of his new business with a basket of flowers. The Basket of Flowers became the sign over his shop and, for many years, the address given at the top of his invoices.
Enrolled in the appropriate guild — the Perfumers and Glovemakers — Houbigant was permitted, under law, "to make and sell all kinds of scents, powders, pomades, pastes to whiten and clense the skin, soaps, toilet-waters, gloves, mittens and skin material."
Perfumer Paul Parquet became joint owner of the Houbigant business in 1880. It was under his direction that manufacturing and administration were moved to Neuilly-sur-Seine were facilities could be expanded. Staffing was increased, laboratories were installed. Houbigant was preparing for a new age.
It has been said that Paul Parquet was the first perfumer to understand the importance of the new synthetic aroma materials. The first of these were simply synthetic substitutes for aroma materials derived from natural sources. Later would come the synthetics for which there were no corresponding natural materials.
In 1882, Parquet introduced
Fougère Royal
, a fragrance that would define a type of perfume — the "fougère" (or fern-like) fragrance family. But even more important,
Fougère Royal
was build around an accord of oakmoss, geranium, bergamot ... and
synthetic
coumarin.
As a footnote we might add that, while today we praise this fragrance for the first known use of a synthetic in perfumery, at the time it was introduced, Houbigant preferred not to mention its use of this material. Rather, there was talk about "scientific methods put into practice commercially", implying only that Houbigant's fragrances were developed using very modern production methods, i. e., the emphasis was on
quality.
During this period, Houbigant stretched out its commercial arms around the world. Under the direction of the Paris office, offices were established in the United States, England, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania. Connections were made in Havana, Buenos-Aires, Rio-de-Janeiro, Australia, Japan, and China.
The New York office had its own manufacturing facility distribute Houbigant goods to "all parts of the country."
Paul Parquet's creativity didn't stop with
Fougère Royal
. He continued introducing perfumes using synthetic materials and, in 1900, introduced
Le Parfum Ideal
, in 1908,
Couer De Jeanette
, and in 1910,
Parfum Inconnu
.
Houbigant perfumer Bienaimé picked up the ball from Paul Parquet and, in 1912, introduced
Quelque Fleurs
, one of Houbigant's all time great fragrances. Bienaimé left Houbigant in 1935 to found his own house. But, during the post-Parquet, pre-1950's period, Houbigant had the services of perfumers Paul Schving and Marcel Billot. It was Marcel Billot who was responsible for another great Houbigant fragrance,
Chantilly
, launched in 1941.
Condition:
Bottle is in very good condition.  Circa 1940s.
Fine print for International buyers:
Shipping outside the United States is extra and not free.  We use the United States Postal Service (USPS) postage price calculator to get a best estimate of shipping and insurance charges for the buyer.  A number of countries have low insurance value limits, which frequently are less than the sale price of an item.  Thus, please do not bid on an item if it cannot be insured for at least what you are paying for the item.  Copy and paste this address to your browser to determine the shipping and insurance cost:  http://ircalc.usps.gov/
Import duties, taxes and charges are not included in the item price or shipping charges. These charges are the buyer's responsibility.  Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding/buying.  These charges are normally collected by the delivering freight (shipping) company or when you pick up the item – do not confuse them for additional shipping charges.  We do not mark merchandise values below value or mark items as "gifts" - US and International government regulations prohibit this.
Buyer’s Responsibility for Reporting Damaged Items:
Seller attempts to ship most items with insurance with USPS or UPS.
Buyer most report within 48 hours of receipt of items being received in order to make claim for damage goods to seller.
Buyer also must take photos of any items reported damaged and must notify seller of such damage and forward such proof.
Buyer must retain all original packing material and submit item for review by third parties to make claims for damaged items and any applicable refunds.
Failure to keep items for review for seller’s insurance claim or notify seller of any loss within these guidelines will forfeit rights of buyer to seek refunds for damaged goods received.
Photos Taken 10/14/20.