The word perfume means a substance that emits a pleasant odor; especially: a fluid
preparation of natural essences (as from plants or animals) or synthetics and a fixative
used for scenting. More to the subject, perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils
and aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, animals,
objects and living spaces a pleasant scent.
Our journey on the scented road begins at the borders of civilization. One of the
oldest uses of perfumes comes form the burning of incense and aromatic herbs used in
religious services, often the aromatic gums, frankincense and myrrh, gathered from
trees. Perfumery, or the art of making perfumes, began in the ancient Mesopotamian
civilizations and Egypt, and was further refined by the Romans and Persians.
The first written testimony about the use of perfumes was found in a cuneiform tablet
from the second millennium BC in Sumer. It recorded prescriptions for the
development of ointments and perfumes oils. Ancient Egyptians used perfumes and
cosmetics in both their religious and mundane life. The ones in charge of their
elaboration were the priests who lived near the temples and they had their laboratories
installed in some of their dependencies, where they elaborated ointments and the
aromas that were used profusely in the religious ceremonies. The Egyptians imported
products from different places to perfect their ointments and perfumes.
Recently, archaeologists have uncovered what are believed to be the world's oldest
perfumes in Pyrgos, Cyprus. The perfumes date back more than 4,000 years, and were
discovered in an ancient perfumery. According to the Homeric tradition the Gods of
Mount Olympus were responsible of teaching the use of perfumes to the men and
women of Greece.The art of perfumery develops in Crete, in Syria and other
Mediterranean towns as well. The Greeks propagated the liking for perfume through
their Mediterranean colonies, from the near east to the French and the Spanish coasts.
From a Greek colony of the southern coast of Italy went out the first barbers and
perfumers that settled in Rome during the Republic.
At the end of the Republic and in the first centuries of the Empire, Rome became a
rich and prosperous city that it knew the cosmetic and perfumery "boom",
consumption becoming popular among all the social classes. The use of perfumes and
ointments became abusive and exaggerated. In addition to people who applied
perfume, it was also utilized in the great rooms, in the palaces, in the theatres, on the
dresses, in the wine, among the standard legions when they went to the war or when
they returned victorious from their conquests, and even some emperor perfumed his
favorite horse. Innumerable perfumes were used in religious ceremonies as well, like
offerings to the Gods, in burials and in familiar celebrations, especially weddings.
With the decline of the Roman Empire and the expansion of the Christianity, that
preached austerity and moderation, the use of perfumes was reduced to the royal
courts and to the palaces and castles of some nobles.
The Byzantine Empire, heir of Rome, having near the raw materials and the labor
force of their Eastern neighbors, with a perfume tradition, developed an important
fragrance industry. But it will not take too much time to arise a new perfume power,
the one of the Arabs. The Arabs were great experts in perfumery who knew how to
assimilate and to perfect the knowledge of the previous cultures, taking advantage of
their knowledge and their new techniques.
In the 9th century the Arabian chemist Al-Kindi wrote a book on perfumes which he
named Book of the Chemistry of Perfume and Distillations. It contained more than a
hundred recipes for fragrant oils, salves and aromatic waters. The book also described
107 methods and recipes for perfume-making and perfume making equipment, such
as the alembic. The Arabs became for several centuries the perfumers of the world. It
is reported that among the many presents of Harun al-Rashid to Charlemagne were
several types of perfumes. In the golden age of Arab culture a technique was
developed for the distillation of essential oils. The Persian Muslim doctor and chemist
Ibn Sina introduced the process of extracting oils from flowers by means of
distillation, the procedure most commonly used today. He first experimented with the
rose. Until his discovery, liquid perfumes were mixtures of oil and crushed herbs or
petals, which made a strong blend. Rose water was more delicate, and immediately
became popular.
Knowledge of perfumery came to Europe as early as the 14th century due partially to
the spread of Islam. But it was the Hungarians who ultimately introduced the first
modern perfume. Made of scented oils blended in an alcohol solution, the first
modern perfume was made in 1370 at the command of Queen Elizabeth of Hungary
and was known throughout Europe as Hungary Water . Venice and Florence were the
capitals of the perfumes during the Renaissance. The formulas of the old
compositions were recovered so the art of perfumery returned to Europe. The
Medici’s and the Venetian Dukes’ courts were perfumed. When Catherine of Medici,
the great ambassador of the perfume, left for France to marry King Henri II, she took
in her entourage her perfumer called Renato of Florence.
France quickly became the European center of perfume and cosmetic manufacture.
Cultivation of flowers for their perfume essence, which had begun in the 14th century,
grew into a major industry in the south of France. During the Renaissance period,
perfumes were used primarily by the wealthy to mask body odors resulting from
infrequent bathing. In 1656, perfume received official recognition from the French
with the establishment of the Guild of Glove and Perfume Makers. Perfumed gloves
were worn by women for a long-lasting fragrance. Partly due to this patronage, the
western perfumery industry was created. More than 1000 years after perfume came
into existence, a fragrance finally received a name in 1675, called Bouquet a la
Marichal. By the 18th century, aromatic plants were being grown in the Grasse region
of France to provide the growing perfume industry with raw materials. In 1710 the
Eau De Cologne was created.
With the development of organic chemistry in the 19th century came the production
of synthetic perfume materials. In 1921, Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel launched her own
brand of perfume, Chanel No. 5. In 1925, Guerlain created Shalimar. And the 1930s
brought the renowned fragrances Je Reviens, Tabu and Joy. Even today, France
remains the centre of the European perfume design and trade.
Up until the 1940s, perfume was used mostly by the upper class. Elizabeth Arden,
Coty, Guerlain, Helena Rubenstein, Chanel and Parfums Weil established the
Fragrance Foundation in 1949. Its creation suggested that perfume was a growing
industry in the United States. Today, according to the Fragrance Foundation, the U.S.
is the “largest fragrance market in the world.” In each epoch perfume reflects society.
A world without perfume would be a world without history!
Find out more interesting facts about ancient perfumes, which we know today as
perfume oils, by visiting the Perfume Museum of Barcelona.