Articles / Media / Links :: The History of Natural Perfumery
Part Two: The History of Natural Perfumery
By Rohanna Goodwin Smith
Published in Aromascents Journal, Fall 2007
“We, who are immersed in the unnaturalness of modern day life,
cannot recall without nostalgia and sadness, those gifts of nature at man's disposal, now neglected or in disuse. Among
those are the lost paradises of natural perfumes, of the perfumes of the past and of the spirit.”
In Search of Perfumes Lost, Paolo Rovesti
As Aromatherapists we are familiar with much of the history of natural aromatics. This article might serve as a review and will include information particularly connected to the history of perfume.
From Ancient Times to the Crusades
Rich in mystery, spirituality, magic and healing lore, mankind's use of aromatic plant essences reaches far back into our history as a species. The Latin origin of the word perfume is "per fumum" — through smoke. Fragrant woods and resins have been burned from the times of earliest man as offerings to the gods. Incense burning was a feature of goddess worship in the pre-dynastic era and later in Egypt, Sumeria and throughout the Middle East. A fascinating and complete history of aromatics is offered in Aromatherapy: A Complete Guide to the Healing Art, by Mindy Green and Kathi Keville.
In the Egyptian era perfume making was a high art but appears to be restricted to the use of oils, unguents and ointments. Petals and other fragrant plant materials were steeped in oils or fats and then strained providing perfumed oils and ointments. As well as for healing, pleasure and ritual, these fragrant oils kept the skin soft and supple in the drying heat. The famous Egyptian perfume, Kyphi (meaning welcome to the gods) was composed of at least sixteen materials of fragrant origin including frankincense, myrrh, cardamom, juniper, mint, cypress, spikenard, cassia along with honey, wine and raisins. This potion was used for spiritual ritual, bodily healing and heightened psychic awareness.
In the ancient Hebrew tradition fragrance was part of daily life for personal hygiene and cleansing practices. Bodies, clothes and bedding were perfumed. In the Kaballah it is written:
“As each Commandment was spoken by the Holy One, Blessed be He, the world filled with fragrance.” Shabat 88b, Rabbi Yehoshua Ben-Levi
And in the Christian tradition we hear of frankincense being brought to the Christ child and Mary Magdalene anointing the feet of Christ with the oil of spikenard.
Fragrance usually accompanied the worship of gods and goddesses in ancient Greece. Concerning Odours, by Theophrastus, the 'father of botany', was entirely dedicated to fragrance. The fragrances included were, amongst others, cinnamon, spikenard, iris, costus, rose, myrtle, mint, hyacinth and narcissus.
Trade routes opened up and expanded to Africa, Arabia, India and China. All fragrant plant essences were in high demand, trading like gold. The spread of Islam expanded the appreciation and knowledge of fragrance. In the 7th to 8th century, the prophet Mohammed was reputed to love fine fragrance:
“It has been given to me to love three things in your base world: women, perfumes and prayer, but the apple of my eye is prayer.” Mohammed (the Hadith)
Avicenna, an Arabian doctor and philosopher is credited with designing the first modern distiller with the capabilities of extracting essential oils from flower petals. Mindy Green writes, "following the translation in the 7th century of the Western classics into Arabic, Arab alchemists in search of the 'quintessence' of plants, found it represented in essential oils."
In India, participants in Tantric ceremonies were anointed with oils; the men with sandalwood, the women with a bouquet of jasmine on the hands, patchouli on the neck and cheeks, amber on the breasts, spikenard in the hair, musk on the abdomen, sandalwood on the thighs and saffron on the feet.
In the Orient the Chinese scented everything from their bodies to their temples to the ink and stationery they communicated with. And the Japanese turned the appreciation of incense into an art known as Kho-do — the incense ceremony. Incense was once believed to protect one from bad luck in Japan.
The Crusades, dating from the 11th to the 16th century contributed to an influx of aromatic materials into Italy and France from the Far and Middle East.
Grasse, France: The Perfume Capital of the World
It's the French who transformed perfumery into a higher art form. I gleaned a wealth of information for this section from Christopher McMahon of White Lotus Aromatics, who regularly publishes a beautiful and informative e-newsletter. Christopher writes, "For lovers of fragrance, the word Grasse, located in the south of France, immediately brings to mind vast fields of fragrant flowers, revered fragrance establishments… that great centre of aromatic culture".
Grasse's prosperity originally came from the flourishing animal skin trade. Famous for its leather but unpopular for its stench, innovative tanners began to rub scented ointments into the leathers which imparted a fine fragrance to them. Thus began the scented-glove trade catering to Parisian ladies of wealth, and this new 'escential' accessory became popular. The purpose for wearing the gloves was to soften the hands. A new profession of 'perfume glovers' emerged and for the next two centuries the Perfume Glover's Guild flourished.
The region began planting non native species of aromatic plants such as jasmine from India, roses, and tuberose. Moving away from the ancient technique of maceration for extracting flower essences, perfumers began to experiment with the enfleurage process — of extracting the essences from the petals of flowers by layering them on glass plates coated with layers of fat. The process is repeated until the fat is saturated with the fragrance which is then drawn off in an alcohol-based solvent to extract the absolute.
Eventually, in the 1760's the perfume-glovers were forced out of business due to high taxing on hides. In compensation, Grasse put all its emphasis into the growing of aromatic plants and established itself as the largest production centre in the world for raw perfume materials. Paris became the commercial counterpart to Grasse and the world center of perfume. Grand perfume salons, such as Guerlain, were established.
By the 18th century citrus oils were being pressed and distilled, and by the end of the 19th century perfumers had at their disposal an abundance of breathtaking, precious floral absolutes including jasmine, tuberose and orange blossom owing to the even more improved methods of enfleurage. In Essence and Alchemy Mandy Aftel writes "As science and reason gained ground, alchemy went into eclipse… the practical legacy of the alchemists went to the chemists… the spiritual legacy to the psychologists… Only the perfumers inherited both strands".
Perfumers moved beyond creating blends solely for scenting gloves or ladies handkerchiefs, or for reproducing the fragrance of flowers that couldn't be extracted, like lily of the valley. By the end of the 19th century and early 20th century perfumers were discarding their recipes for floral imitations and embarking upon a new, modern era of creative perfumery. Owing to the vastly improved extraction methods they had an abundance of gorgeous raw materials to work with.
Regrettably, this flourishing period never reached its zenith. It collided in the early 1900's with the discovery and introduction of synthetic molecules into perfumery. Shunned at first by the perfumers they gradually began incorporating the synthetics into their perfumes due to the low cost and guaranteed consistency of fragrance. And, like white bread upon its introduction to the masses, these new synthetics were regarded as a modern miracle because they were colourless!
Aftel writes, "Thus there has never been a true 'golden age' of natural perfume because perfumery emerged as an art form in tandem with the birth of the synthetics, and the incredible palette of natural essences remained largely untouched, awaiting discovery."
Since the the early 20th century we have been living in the lost world of natural perfumery. Will the insidious movement of big business to control natural products and practitioners thwart its reign? Or will this 21st century allow us the privilege of truly experiencing a "golden age" of natural perfumery for the pleasure and benefit of all?
