Jabot by Lucien Lelong (1939)

So this glass bottle was produced by Verreries Brosse for Lucien Lelong, whose history is long and interesting. The son of a Parisian fabric maker, Lucien displayed his talent for designing clothes early in life, studied at an art and design school, then entered the military during WWI where he won a medal for valor, the Croix de Guerre, then when his service was over, went into his father's line of work and married soon afterwards. Talented, handsome, a military hero, well-educated, wealthy, and with a head for business, he opened a shop in Paris and began to show his collections, then produced fragrances as an accessory to his clothing, or rather, for the woman who would wear the clothes he created. Lelong met and eventually married a glamorous royal family member, Princess Natalia Romanov Paley, who modeled for him, and was a favorite subject of the famous photographers of the era. Part of the elite core of French couture, Dior, Givenchy, Balmain, all of whom first worked in his shop before opening their own houses, the couple moved in fashion circles as well as high society. While the marriage was supposedly in name only (though he was married three times, produced children from two of the marriages, and had several romances with women, Lucien was said to be homosexual), both had passionate love affairs on the side, Natalia with a Russian dancer, Lucien with a model dying of tuberculosis; in the meantime, the business thrived and expanded, including his perfumes. Initially the glass bottles, known as skyscrapers, were produced by Lalique, and the fragrances were named simply by letters, A, B, C, N, and J (using letters and numbers was a practice common in the day, hence Chanel #5), then as the 20s went out, added names to the perfumes, creating twenty seven in total over his career. Married a third time, Lucien Lelong fell ill in 1948 and closed his shop but continued to produce his line of fragrances until his death in 1958. In the manner of legendary fashion houses, Lelong perfumes were merchandised decades after his passing, and in the nineties were re-introduced at high end retailers. The bottle I own once held the fragrance known as Jabot, described as an Oriental perfume. Molded glass with gilt touches and a pale blue Bakelite topper, there is a bit of residue inside (second photo) which gives off a delicate floral scent. Thanks for looking.