Verdigris by Robert Lee Morris c1988

Verdigris by Robert Lee Morris c1988. First scent from the famed New York jewelry designer. Created by the perfumers at the French based essential oil manufacturers, Roure. The scent was named after the greenish metal Morris has made popular in his jewelry designs. He says "it's the greenish patina you find on ancient sculpture and artifacts."




"They assigned a perfume specialist to me who looked at the Artwear books, and together we came up with this incredible scent," says Morris in an interview with the Washington Post. "It is something I would like to wear. It's got a mysterious note that is hard to identify; it is not sweet or floral ... The packaging is key and the packaging and scent relate to each other."
The perfume was sold alongside his jewelry at Morris's two Artwear galleries and 250 other retail outlets.

Fragrance Composition:

So what does it smell like? It is classified as a fresh fragrance for both men and women. It begins with a fresh citrus top, followed by a spicy floral heart, resting on an earthy woody base. The fragrance is rich with essential oils, characterized as Indonesian patchouli, cedar and vetiver with top notes of lemon, warmly spiced with afternotes of incense and amber, and can be worn by both men and women.

• Top notes: lemon
• Middle notes: spices, florals
• Base notes:  cedar, Indonesian patchouli, vetiver, ambergris, incense

Bottle:

The bottle was designed by Morris, an acid etched molded glass vial that sat suspended in a tripod, its surface was green with verdigris "the patina  of the Greeks". The bottle and tripod were housed in a clear plastic tube filled with excelsior packing material to protect the bottle. This was all contained inside of a tubular suede leather presentation case. A printed note detailing Morris' inspiration for the fragrance and stating that the vials are limited to 3000 pieces accompanies each bottle was included in the presentation. Each edition was signed and numbered. The bottles only came in one size: 0.25 ounce and retailed for $450. Refills were available.



The Connoisseur, 1989:

"Robert Lee Morris, the designer and owner of the New York boutique Artwear, is known for his use of oxidized brass as a base material for his strong, stark jewelry. The perfume he recently introduced at his stores, Verdigris, comes in a characteristic Morris bottle — a quarter- ounce, etched frosted- glass vial borne on an oxidized brass tripod- and is dark and rich and voluptuous, a blend of warm, woody Indonesian patchouli and vetiver, with top notes of lemon."

Fate of the Fragrance:

Morris initially wanted to produce seven different fragrances, all reflective of different moods. These would have been housed in different bottles and would have been issued as limited editions.

Explaining further, Morris said, "My concept behind the perfume and bottle is about the personal ritual that we all go through every morning and night. It is somewhat related to fairy tales and legends of queens and kings who go through a daily bath and ritual of getting themselves together, applying of creams and accessories."

 The Verdigris perfume is long discontinued and extremely rare to find. Morris's other scents were never released and the project abandoned.

CLICK HERE TO FIND VERDIGRIS PERFUME BY ROBERT LEE MORRIS