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Welcome to my unique perfume blog! Here, you'll find detailed, encyclopedic entries about perfumes and companies, complete with facts and photos for easy research. This site is not affiliated with any perfume companies; it's a reference source for collectors and enthusiasts who cherish classic fragrances. My goal is to highlight beloved, discontinued classics and show current brand owners the demand for their revival. Your input is invaluable! Please share why you liked a fragrance, describe its scent, the time period you wore it, any memorable occasions, or what it reminded you of. Did a relative wear it, or did you like the bottle design? Your stories might catch the attention of brand representatives. I regularly update posts with new information and corrections. Your contributions help keep my entries accurate and comprehensive. Please comment and share any additional information you have. Together, we can keep the legacy of classic perfumes alive!

Friday, April 25, 2014

Cigalia by Roger et Gallet and Scarabee by LT Piver

Rene Lalique is well known as a genius who designed and manufactured beautiful perfume flacons. In my opinion, the two most interesting pieces were made around the same time for two different companies, LT Piver & Roger et Gallet. Each bottle is a stylized insect, a cicada and an Egyptian scarab beetle. These were popular motifs during the Art Nouveau era and must have appealed to women with refined tastes.





Cigalia:


Cigalia was launched by Roger et Gallet in 1910.

It's fabulous Art Nouveau bottle was made by Rene Lalique in four sizes. The tapering rectangular bottle molded with a frosted winged locust at each corner, the lozenge-shaped stopper molded with stylized branches, the bottle was then given a cold patination in green stain. The flacon was packaged in a similarly decorated wooden box. It is noted by Marcilhac that the smallest bottle of Cigalia was not signed by Lalique, so don't be alarmed if your little bottle doesn't have a mark.









A sumptuous powder box was made up of clear and frosted crystal, each corner of the lid is molded with a cicada whose wings stretch down to the base of the powder box.



Similarly decorated was a small pot de creme, which is a very rare find.




Cigalia was also available as a luxurious scented soap, colored a rusty brown and molded in the shape of two cicadas facing each other. This luxe soap was housed in a decorated wooden box, in the same manner and the perfume flacon, and the soap rested on a bed of crumpled silk.

Cigalia has been discontinued for many years, it was released for a limited time as eau parfumee in 1967 with notes of geranium, tobacco and vetiver., this is also a rare find today.









Scarabee by LT Piver was launched during Christmas time in 1909.




This gorgeous Art Nouveau bottle was similar to the Cigalia bottle was it had scarabs instead of the cicadas hugging onto the shoulders of the bottle. Its presentation case was made up of leather tooled to have the shape of the scarab.



The perfumed lotion bottle featured a pair of scarabs molded into the shoulders of the bottle.



Scarabee also was available in scented powder, and its sumptuous clear and frosted crystal powder box was molded with a large scarab on the lid and given cold patination in a sepia color.  These items usually do not have the Lalique signature.



The fragrance of Scarabee was classified as green, and probably a chypre.


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