Day 109- An Alchemist & The Druggist

I learned that the world has a soul, and that whoever understands that soul can also understand the language of things. I learned that many alchemists realized their destinies, and wound up discovering the Soul of the World, the Philosopher's Stone, and the Elixir of Life. But above all, I learned that these are all so simple they could be written on the surface of an emerald.

-----The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

I am an alchemist. I can turn gold into brass. And as The Alchemist in Paulo Coelho's book propounded, I learned that it was "so simple they could be written on the surface of an emerald".

I did start the very next day as promised in my last post. I began with the little porcelain boxes because I thought they were too shiny and new.

I thought how sweet it would be if I could indulge in a bit of alchemy and turn the gold into antique brass. The boxes would then match the rest of my furnishings in this project.

So I took out my acrylic-a dollop of copper bronze, a hint of zinc silver and a fair bit of gunmetal black-and starting mixing. By the way, you do know that brass is an alloy of 1/3 zinc and 2/3 copper? That makes the 2 of us, I didn't either.

I then sand the gold down and collected the dust to make into a ring..alright, I am not that nuts. Anyway, I didn't have metal primer so I skipped that step and started converting the metal.

Half a day later...

A day after the "conversion" and after the paint had dried, I applied a layer of varnish to "fix" the "antique brass". I then tried to carve all this onto an emerald and realized that only Paulo Coelho thought that was simple. I know, groan away...

And on the 3rd Day, I researched. I learned from my copy of Schiffer's "Perfume, Cologne and Scent Bottles" that

During the Victorian and Edwardian periods, colognes and perfumes were most often purchased by the middle and lower class from the local drugstore. The druggist bought scents such as rose, patchouli, lavender and carnation in bulk quantities and then re-packaged them into smaller, home-use containers....Alternatively, the plainer bottles from the drugstore was usually taken home and the contents decanted into something more fashionable like the cameo or cut glass colognes.These bottles were chosen by the mistress of the house as permanent adjuncts to her dressing table and were re-used indefinitely until discarded for something more stylish.

I also found out that for the longest time, perfume boxes remained insignificant and in fact, non-existent until the invention of Eau de Cologne in the 18th century. With the advent of the perfumed sponge, the vinaigrette, a small silver box and a secret hiding place for these sponges, appeared. Other precursors to the perfume box emerged during that time, including the pouncet box and the pomander (see pair in right pic given to me by Helene. Pardon my ignorance, dear, I didn't know they are pomanders until today) .

The packaging for perfume really gained importance in the early 19th century when gifting perfume became popular. Perfume boxes became as important as the fragrance it held.


Perfume boxes are to be found in every shape and form. Where once the bottle was important, now the box stands for something too, particularly for collectors. Antique perfume bottles that come with their original containers are significantly more valuable than their counterparts without.

Collectors believe that some of the loveliest perfume boxes are the Limoges porcelain boxes (click pic to see range from Beauchamp Limoges)

And of course, this means that the Palace must own some of these exquisite boxes of the best parfum, French no less. With a velvet cardboard that came with a key chain gift and some ribbons, I made the box sets tonight (1 3/4" w and 1 1/4"h).

Thanks to some very fine French Eau de Cologne from Mercedes, I think some lucky harem girls will be thrilled if they are gifted with one .

Now, we will have to find the drugstore that sells these...