Callot Soeurs was a couture house established in 1895 by three sisters Marie Callot Gerber, Marthe Callot Bertrand and Regine Callot Chantrelle at 9-10 avenue Matignon, Paris.
The sisters were famous for their usage of antique laces, ribbons and textiles during their early years as well as the popular oriental style adapted by Paul Poiret during the 'teens and 'twenties incorporating silver and gold lame.
Other names were reminiscent of fashions. The perfume La Cabine des Mannequins, means "the fitting room", while La Châle Indien means "the Indian shawl", Bao is Vietnamese for "purse".
Whimsical phrases and romantic themes aso dominated the fashion designer's perfume names. Bel Oiseau Bleu (the beautiful blue bird), Mariage d'Amour (marriage of love), Il Pleut des Baisers (it's raining kisses), Beau Réves (sweet dreams), Le Dieu du Jour (the god of the day), Le Préféré des Belles (the preferred beauties).
On the death of Marie Callot Gerber in 1927, her two sons Jacques and Pierre were left in charge, however, the company was hit hard by the stock market crash of 1929 and the business was absorbed by Calvet in 1937. Their fragrances were available for sale until the early 1950’s.
The New Yorker, 1928:
"Callot has sets of five different perfumes, attractively boxed, $12.50; sets of eleven, $22.50. She can take her pick and get one big bottle next year."
Femme, 1946:
"“Dieu du jour,” by Callot Soeurs, reminds us that this great house, celebrated in the annals of couture, was one of the first to launch perfumes: from 1921, just after Poiret, the importation of rare essences which composed of their creations can now resume its full development: we joyfully find "Mariage d'Amour", "Jeep", "Bao", but "Dieu du Jour" is perhaps the most seductive of all."
The perfumes of Callot Soeurs:
- 1920 Bel Oiseau Bleu
- 1923 Chichi Callot
- 1924 Ambré
- 1924 Chypre
- 1924 La Fille du Roi de Chine
- 1924 Mariage d’Amour (lily perfume)
- 1925 100
- 1925 101
- 1925 103
- 1925 105
- 1925 107
- 1925 108
- 1925 109
- 1925 Jasmin
- 1925 Le Dieu du Jour
- 1925 Le Louis d’Or
- 1925 Pensées Roses
- 1925 Sourire de Cocea
- 1925 T.S.F.
- 1931 Qu'en Dira T'On
- 1933 Avenue Matignon
- 1933 La Michodiere
- 1933 Le Chale Indien
- 1933 Il Pleut des Baisers
- 1933 Monsieur Cupidon
- 1940 Jeep
- 1947 Bao (chypre perfume)
- 1948 Plein Ciel
- Beau Reves
- c1920s La Cabine des Mannequins
- Caresses
- Le Prefere des Belles
Callot Soeurs had a knack for mixing styles to become artful and pleasing presentations for their perfumes, especially the sultry orientalism and avant garde cubism which was very trendy during the 1920s. The deluxe perfume bottle for La Fille du Roi de Chine was a cubist style clear crystal flacon in the shape of a shoe, it's fanciful shape recalls the Chinese lotus shoe used for centuries to hold the legendary bound foot of a woman. A lesser expensive bottle was simply shaped like a Chinese snuff bottle, made of clear glass and topped with a green glass button stopper. The fragrance of La Fille du Roi de Chine was a woody oriental fragrance for women with a distinctive leather chypre accord. The bottle was also used for the perfume Le Dieu du Jour.
For the perfume Bel Oiseau Bleu (Beautiful Blue Bird), a somewhat expression of loneliness and romanticism was presented in the form of a simple bottle with enamelled decorations depicting an empty cage on the front and a blue bird on the back. The flacon was designed by Lucien Gaillard. This is the same bottle used for the lesser expensive example for the perfume Bel Oiseau Bleu.
The perfumes ultimately remained a sign of the times during the 1940s, with the perfume Jeep, it's bottle displayed a frosted glass stopper molded with the wheel of the wartime vehicle. Its presentation box features an embossed image of an early style of the Jeep. The bottle was designed by Lucienne Coudert.
The perfume Mariage d'Amour was scented with lilies, it's bottle boasted a frosted glass stopper molded with Cupid's bow and quiver holding arrows of love. This bottle too, was designed by Lucienne Coudert.
The perfumes for Bao and Dieu du Jour were housed in the same flacon, a tall square bottle topped by a frosted glass stopper molded with two simple scrolling motifs. Designed by Pierre Camin.
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments will be subject to approval by a moderator. Comments may fail to be approved if the moderator deems that they:
--contain unsolicited advertisements ("spam")
--are unrelated to the subject matter of the post or of subsequent approved comments
--contain personal attacks or abusive/gratuitously offensive language