Isn’t this perfume bottle design so strange and exquisite?

It was manufactured in 1925 for Les Parfums de Marcy “L’Orange Variee” perfume. The scent comes packaged in eight individual glass sections, shaped like orange segments sitting in a painted enamel peel. The segments actually sit upside down to conceal their corks.

Although novelty perfume bottles like this were popular through the 1920s, a citrus-shaped one like this was still very unusual. Because there are so many delicate parts, it is extremely rare to find a whole, undamaged example today. Apparently collectors usually have to cobble together parts from multiple sets over years of collecting to get a full example — like a beautiful orange Frankenstein.

I imagine the perfume smells something like a combination of Terry’s chocolate orange and grandmas. How do you picture the scent?

Top image from a bottle originally sold on Live Auctioneers. Photographs of the individual sections are from Beach Packaging Design and Worthpoint Auctions.

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