Fragonard, Grasse and perfume

French painter Jean-Honore Fragonard (1732-1806) epitomises rococo art. His oeuvre is characterised by the use of a light, pastel palette and subject matters that portray the hedonistic way of life in 18th-century France. His most popular works are playful with an atmosphere of intimacy, and veiled eroticism.

The Swing

Fragonard was born in Grasse during the reign of Louis XV, whose court at Versailles was known as 'le cour perfumee' - the perfume court. The art of concealing embarrassing smells with perfumed water was much practised in those days than bathing! Thanks to Queen Catherine de Medici who brought from her native Tuscany a pair of perfumed gloves that created the fashion for all things sweet smelling.

The French court was the undisputed model of refinement and elegance throughout Europe and eventually France became the home of the greatest perfume makers. While Paris was the capital of trade for perfumed products, the town of Grasse, with its extensive fields of jasmine and rose, became the capital of production.

Fragonard, Grasse and perfume, the three elements which were extricably linked back in the 18th century find even more common grounds now with some creative marketing.

Today Fragonard is a brand name of a successful artisan perfumery based in Grasse. And the image of Fragonard's bare-shoulder rococo courtesan and her flirtatious gaze is seen every which way you turn. If only he had known the royalty he would be receiving just from this work, he would be rolling in his grave laughing.


In order to create a truly exceptional scent, it takes a "nose" to formulate a perfume and there are no more than 50 noses worldwide. These gifted individuals have been trained at a tender age to develop their olfactory faculty which enables them to distinguish thousand of ingredients and their composition.

"Perfume organ"

The "nose" operates from a "perfume organ," so called because it resembles the keyboards of a cathedral organ with its tiered rows of ingredient bottles arranged around a balance that the perfumer uses when mixing and testing fragrances.

In a production facility, you will typically see stills (for steam distillation of perfume extracts) and glass frames that were coated with fat and flowers in the traditional "cold maceration" process to extract the aromatics. If you have ever wondered why good perfumes are expensive, consider this: It takes 200 kg of lavender flowers to produce 1 kg of lavender extract for use in perfume.

Cold maceration process

Filtering of impurities in the extracts 

One of the most interesting aspects about perfume is how its appeal and taste have evolved over time. Take, for instance, the most classic perfume of all times, Chanel No 5. Since its launch in the 1920s, its extraordinary allure for women all over the world spans the 20th-century into the 21st. No 5 is still synonymous with ultimate luxury, with classic sensuality.

Is it really its unique concoction based primarily on jasmine, rose and musk that contributes to its timelessness, or is it simply clever marketing? Marilyn Monroe was said to go to bed wearing nothing but a few drops of No 5. Sex sells!

Try any perfume from the fashion houses in the market nowadays and you can quite easily distinguish that they are fragrances made today. It is hard to identify what exactly changed in their formula, but they generally embody a newer clean contemporary smell that goes hand in hand with fashion trends. Hundreds of new perfumes are launched each year and increasingly so, I find designer fragrances are linked to designer clothes. They come and go as quickly as the fashion of this season.