Secret de l'Histoire
N° 821

The Magic of the Trianon Bouquet

par
Annick le Guerer

On 15 August 1774, the night of Queen Marie-Antoinette’s party, Louis XVI gave his wife a marvellous present: ‘You like flowers, and so I have a bouquet to give you - the Little Trianon.’

Unlike the more classic show-gardens, which were very ordered, designed and scaled, a space for the owner to show his power, this garden, which seemed abandoned...

On 15 August 1774, the night of Queen Marie-Antoinette’s party, Louis XVI gave his wife a marvellous present: ‘You like flowers, and so I have a bouquet to give you - the Little Trianon.’

Unlike the more classic show-gardens, which were very ordered, designed and scaled, a space for the owner to show his power, this garden, which seemed abandoned, wild and romantic, astonished her and gave her a refuge where she could give free rein to her sensibility.

Marie-Antoinette sought to keep the magic and sensuality of the aromas of the Trianon bouquet with her forever.

The Trianon Bouquet or the Art of Sublimation

The perfumer Jean Louis Fargeon seized the opportunity and proposed to the Queen that he distil the flowers to obtain their essence, which the Queen would then be able to keep with her forever. He created numerous perfumes from roses, violets, carnations and the famous tuberose. The perfume Trianon, in which he used the intoxicating flower, together with essences of orange blossom, lavender, essential oils of citron and bergamot orange, galbanum, iris, violet, jasmin, lily, vanilla, cedar and sandalwood, amber, musc and a dash of benzoin, is one of his masterworks.

Marie Antoinette never voyaged again without the Trianon essence, to the extent that the perfume was found among her personal belongings when the tragedy at Varennes occurred. Even at the most dramatic points of her life, the Queen remained attached to the magic of the Trianon bouquets.

From the Flowers of the Little Trianon to the Perfumery of Art

From the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century, aromatic plants were cultivated to make therapeutic substances, which would constitute the essentials of materia medica. Perfume was used to protect, to nurse, to comfort, to vitalize. Odour was, in effect, the soul of medicine. Doctors of the time were so certain of this that shortly after the Revo

lution, Fourcroy, a member of the Royal Society of Medicine and Professor of Chemistry in the King’s Garden, created a classification system for medicines based on their scent.In the eighteenth century, distillation apparatus improved, tastes were evolving and perfumery took off once more. In keeping with the aristocratic mentality, wherein sensualist philosophies, sophisticated parties and refined tables triumphed, perfumery sought above all to privilege perfume’s finesse, to the detriment of its medicinal properties.

Perfumery thus began to move away from the world of medicine to establish itself firmly in the world of creative art. New scents appeared and replaced the heavy animal musks previously used. Perfumes became real creations, as with ‘quintessences’ and ‘spirits’, composed from the most refined and subtle of essences.

Perfume began to develop into a fashion accessory and was no longer used for protection or for masking body odour. New perfumers sought to appeal to the fit and healthy, not to invalids. They created perfumes like artists.

And with these perfume-creations emerged an artistic elan for flasks, concerning the material they were made from and their forms and decorations in equal measure. A charming squirrel clinging to an oak branch and nibbling a fruit, or a chaffinch with orange plumage perched on a bed of leaves, began to adorn these beautiful flasks: flasks belonging to both Art and History, which contained the Queen’s favourite perfume, to be found with her always on her strolls in the country.

Bibliography

Annick LE GUERER « Le parfum des origines à nos jours » Odile Jacob, 2005
Annick le GUERER « quand le parfum portait remède » Le Garde Temps, 2009

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Produits associés au Secret "La Magie des Bouquets du Trianon"

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  Bouquet du Trianon - Pop Art Candle Bouquet du Trianon - Pop Art Candle

  reinterpreted Scents of History Versailles, August 15th 1774 Bouquet du Trianon is an original fragrance made of a unique blend of essential oils that Marie-Antoinette was particularly fond of, especially the tuberose that fascinated her. Perfumed Candle 190g (~50 hours). Vegetable wax based. Cotton wick. reinterpreted Scents of History Versailles, August 15th 1774 Bouquet du Trianon is an original fragrance made of a...

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