Glass alabastrons (perfume bottles) from classical Greece, during the late 6th–5th century BCE. These are. core-formed glass vessels. (Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Public domain)
The history of scent is largely ephemeral. After all, the aromas of pressed lilies from the Nile banks or the precious ambergris, once worth more than gold, are hard to imagine if you’ve never smelled these rarities.
While the scent of these delicate perfume ingredients vanishes with time, countless examples of exquisite perfume bottles and containers remain to remind us of the history of the most-neglected sense. From ancient Egypt to modern Paris, the history of perfume bottles is entwined with the history of glassmaking, as well as broader artistic movements and each culture’s specific uses of perfumes.
Read on to learn more about the artistic history of perfume bottles.