Djedi by Guerlain, launched in 1926, was a creation that encapsulated the mystical allure of ancient Egypt while commemorating the 100th anniversary of Guerlain’s founding. Created by Jacques Guerlain, this fragrance was housed in an exquisite Baccarat flacon, reflecting the grandeur of the occasion. Guerlain, like many in the 1920s, was captivated by the era's fascination with ancient Egypt—a trend sparked by the discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922. Egypt became a symbol of mystery, allure, and timelessness, and Guerlain's Djedi perfectly embodied these sentiments.
The name "Djedi" itself is a direct nod to Egyptian mythology. In ancient Egyptian, "Djedi" means "he who endures," evoking images of longevity, resilience, and ancient wisdom. Pronounced "djed-ee," it conjures visions of a distant, enigmatic past—golden sands, towering pyramids, and the eternal Nile. The name is also tied to the legend of the magician Djedi, a 100-year-old sage believed to have lived during the reign of Pharaoh Khufu, who was said to possess powers of resurrection and divination. This mythical figure, who advised on the construction of the Great Pyramid, embodied the mysticism and spiritual power that resonated with the era’s fascination with Egyptology.
In scent, Djedi is interpreted as a leathery chypre fragrance, a composition deeply reflective of ancient materials and rituals. The leathery notes give the fragrance a sense of antiquity and durability, while the chypre base—traditionally earthy and mossy—brings to mind the ancient temples and tombs, infused with the richness of incense and balms. There is an undeniable gravitas to this fragrance, a weight that speaks to history and endurance. Women of the time, immersed in the glamour and exoticism of the 1920s, would have related to Djedi as a perfume that exuded strength, mystery, and an air of the forbidden. To wear Djedi was to wrap oneself in a tale of ancient power and enduring beauty.
Inspiration:
The creation of Djedi by Guerlain in 1926 was deeply inspired by the allure of ancient Egypt, a fascination that swept across Europe and the Western world following the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922. This period of "Egyptomania" fueled imaginations, and the cultural fascination with Egypt’s rich history, mystical deities, and enigmatic artifacts became a source of inspiration for fashion, art, and perfume. Guerlain’s Djedi tapped into this fascination, offering a fragrance that evoked the timeless elegance and ancient power of a civilization that had long captivated the human imagination.
The perfume’s name, Djedi, references a legendary, albeit fictional, Egyptian magician, a figure of both myth and history, whose story is chronicled in the ancient Westcar Papyrus. Djedi was said to have lived during the reign of Pharaoh Khufu, the ruler best known for commissioning the Great Pyramid at Giza. According to legend, Djedi was a master of magical arts, able to perform extraordinary feats, including the power to bring the dead back to life. One tale recounts that Khufu, intrigued by Djedi's abilities, summoned him to his court. The pharaoh, eager to witness the magician's powers, requested Djedi to decapitate a prisoner and restore him to life. Djedi, however, refused to harm a human and instead performed the spell on a goose.
The story of Djedi’s magical act was as mesmerizing as it was macabre. The goose was beheaded, with its head and body placed at opposite ends of the room. Djedi then invoked his ancient magic, and before the astonished court, the lifeless bird's body stood up and waddled across the floor to reunite with its severed head. Once whole again, the goose let out a triumphant honk and strutted around the room. This act, demonstrating Djedi’s power over life and death, amazed Khufu and earned the magician a position of great trust in the pharaoh's court. Khufu later sought Djedi’s wisdom to assist in the design of his pyramid, further embedding Djedi in the mythology of Egypt’s most enduring symbols of power and immortality.
Guerlain’s choice of Djedi as the name for their commemorative fragrance in 1926 was fitting. The story of the magician, with its themes of resurrection, magic, and the eternal, mirrored the mystique and timeless beauty that Guerlain sought to capture in its perfume. Djedi, both as a figure of legend and a fragrance, represents endurance, mystery, and an otherworldly charm, all wrapped in the exotic allure of ancient Egypt. For women in the 1920s, Djedi was more than just a fragrance—it was an invitation to embrace the magic and power of a faraway past, to be part of a narrative that linked them with the majesty and mystery of the ancient world.
Fragrance Composition:
So what does it smell like? It is classified as a leathery chypre fragrance for women.
- Top notes: aldehyde, lily of the valley, bergamot
- Middle notes: jasmine, rose, orris, vetiver, animal notes
- Base notes: amber, oakmoss, and musk
One reviewer compared it to Judith Muller’s Bat Sheba perfume from the 1960s. Author Luca Turin called Djedi a “tremendous animalic vetiver”, whilst perfumer Roja Dove described it as “the driest perfume of all time.”
The New Yorker, 1928:
“And because no one in this frivolous business can keep away from France very long, this particular tantara of trumpets announces a new Guerlain perfume, conveniently named Djedi, which might mean almost anything. Any perfume of Guerlain’s is an event to those who know, and this is as distinctive as the others, although it is a little strong for my taste, which is ultra-conservative for this line. The prevailing odor is a sort of lemony flavor, with a mysterious incense aroma as an apparent background. This is as accurately as I can describe it. Since every good perfume causes violent emotions of adoration or doubt according to the individual, I can only advise you to sniff for yourself. And well worth sniffing, since this firm does nothing banal.
Old Favorite Department: While we are on the Guerlain subject, I might as well mention that A Travers Champs, a perfume little known because it is rather musky until it dries, is still, to my mind, ideal for the tailleur. And, second, nothing could make the bath a greater luxury than those huge soap bowls, scented with geranium, rose, violet, and other garden odors. Expensive at first, but lasting forever.”
American Druggist, 1929:
"Djedi perfume which is described as an odor striking a modern note both in scent and package. It too is a leader. "
Scent Profile:
As I inhale the first breath of Djedi, the top notes unfold like the opening to a sacred ceremony in an ancient Egyptian temple. The bright sparkle of aldehydes feels like the first rays of sun rising over the monumental pyramids, illuminating the stone carvings and hieroglyphs etched by time. It has a sharp, clean brightness that evokes the sun god Ra, powerful and all-seeing, commanding the start of the day.
The delicate fragrance of lily of the valley follows, reminiscent of the cool, shaded courtyards of the temples, where priestesses move quietly through the columns, their movements as graceful and ethereal as the floral sweetness that lingers in the air. The lily offers a softness, like the hidden gardens of the palace, an oasis of purity amidst the grandeur.
The crisp freshness of bergamot breezes through, like a wind carrying the scent of distant, fragrant groves along the banks of the Nile, balancing the aldehydic brightness with a citrus lift, bringing to mind the vitality of life along the river.
The heart of Djedi blooms like the inner sanctum of a temple, where offerings are made and prayers whispered. Jasmine, rich and narcotic, weaves through the air like the heady incense used in sacred rituals, its sweetness evocative of the sensual elegance of Egyptian queens, perhaps even Cleopatra herself.
The deep, velvety scent of rose follows, offering a contrast of softness and power, much like the image of a revered pharaoh adorned in opulent jewels and flowing robes. Rose in this context feels ancient, timeless—a symbol of love and eternity that has endured for millennia.
Orris root, with its powdery and earthy facets, emerges like the dust of the tombs, echoing the mystery of mummification and the belief in life after death. It’s both regal and intimate, like the golden sarcophagus cradling a pharaoh’s form, prepared for the eternal journey.
The grounding vetiver adds a touch of the natural world, its grassy, smoky tones conjuring the wild lands beyond the cultivated oases, where nomads wander under the watchful eyes of the gods. Finally, the faint touch of animalic notes speaks of the sacred animals revered by Egyptian priests, from the powerful lioness Sekhmet to the mysterious jackal Anubis. These notes lend a primal, almost forbidden quality to the heart, hinting at ancient secrets guarded for centuries.
As Djedi dries down, the base notes settle like the night descending upon the pyramids, as darkness envelops the desert sands. Amber glows softly, as if from the golden relics buried deep within the tombs of kings, exuding warmth, richness, and an otherworldly glow. It feels eternal, like the treasures of Tutankhamun’s tomb, uncovered from their centuries-long slumber.
Oakmoss, damp and earthy, connects the scent to the fertile lands of Egypt, the life-giving soil that nourished the kingdom’s crops and sustained its people. Its presence adds depth and a sense of the eternal cycle of life and death, much like the Pharaohs’ belief in their divine afterlife.
Finally, the musk lingers, animalic and seductive, reminiscent of the exotic unguents used in mummification rituals, preserving the body for eternity. It wraps the wearer in a cloak of mystery, evoking the majesty and power of the Egyptian gods.
Together, these notes form a complex, multi-layered fragrance that tells the story of ancient Egypt—the magnificence of its temples, the sacred rituals of its priests, the opulence of its pharaohs, and the timeless allure of its queens. Djedi is a fragrance that feels as eternal as the sands of the desert, rich with history and imbued with the power of the ancients.
Bottles:
The Djedi bottle is actually a modified version of the 'biscuit shaped' bottle from 1916. Presented in a flacon by Cristalleries de Baccarat design # 598, known as the ‘Poudreur’ style bottle, designed by Georges Chevalier.
It was available in the following sizes: 60ml, 125ml and 250ml.
Flacon Bouchon Quadrilobe (Quatrefoil Stopper) c1908-Present:
Flacon quadrilobe was made by five different glass manufacturers: Baccarat, Pochet et du Courval, St Gobain Desjonqueres, Cristalleries de Nancy, Cristal Romesnil, Verreries Brosse, and BSN-GD Flaconnage to hold extraits for various perfumes. Some later bottles hold eaux de toilette or eaux de parfum. Baccarat flacon #24. Created in 1908 for the fragrance Rue de la Paix and has been used since as the ‘house bottle’. The labels known as ‘etiquette laurier’ because of the laurel leaf borders, except for the perfume Coque D’Or, Dawamesk, Liu and Fleur de Feu which show a more 'modernist' design.
Since the bottle shape has been used for many decades, the various glassworks needed to modify their original moulds, including the bottle itself and the stopper. One should remember that with the change from ground glass stoppers to ones with the plastic plugs (plastemeri) - this automatically altered the overall capacity and size of the bottles. Atlas & Monniot in their book, mentioned that it would be "unreasonable" to list all the numerous changes that took place with these alterations. They state that "an original mould may have been modified up to five times for a bottle of the same capacity with only slight differences in the size."
Flacon de Guerre (War Time Edition) c1938-1945:
Pochet et du Courval created this bottle to house extraits of Shalimar, Jicky, Guerlinade, Fleur de Feu, Mitsouko, L'Heure Bleue, Liu, Kadine, Verveine,Vague Souvenir, Champs Elysees, Geranium d'Espagne, Jasmiralda, Lilas, Bouquet de Faunes, Guerlilas, Djedi, Gavotte, Coque d'Or, Imperial Russe, Fleur Qui Meurt, Gardenia, and others.
- 10cc/10ml/0.388 oz (1939-1945)
- 20cc/20ml/0.676 oz (1939-1945)
- 30cc/30ml/1 oz (1938-1945)
- 40cc/40ml/1.35 oz (1938-1945)
- 82cc/82ml/2.77 oz - 10,3cm/4.06" (1938-1945)
- 125cc/125ml/4.2 oz (1938-1945)
- 250cc/250ml/8.4 oz (1938-1945)
- 500cc/500ml/16.9 oz (1938-1945)
Flacon Goutte (Teardrop) c1923-2001:
Bottle created by Pochet et du Courval to hold eaux de toilette only. Bottle also made by different manufacturers over the years. Created as the standard Eau de Toilette presentation. The frosted glass stopper is made of two cockle shells; the label depicts two dolphins known as ‘Etiquette Dauphin’.
Solid Brilliantine Pot:
Fate of the Fragrance:
Djedi debuted at $25 an ounce, but by 1932, the same bottle sold for only $3.95 an ounce.
Coronet, 1945:
"In the late 1920s, the house of Guerlain, which had had many successes introduced Djedi. It was a bust. At about the same time, De Raymond appeared with "Mimzy," People who couldn't remember Djedi, did remember Mimzy. It was a hit."
Djedi was still listed for sale and was still being sold in 1953. Guerlain registered for a US trademark for Djedi on March 6, 1928 and renewed it again on March 6, 1948. It was discontinued sometime afterwards.
1996 Reformulation & Reissue:
Djedi was not part of Guerlain's classic range, but for its 70th anniversary in 1996, a true copy of the original 60ml model was issued as a limited edition of only 1000, available on in Paris, it sold out in less than a week.
Le Nouvel Economiste, 1996:
"Guerlain reissued a limited edition of 1,000 bottles of Djedi to celebrate its 70th anniversary. In 1926 Paris, during the original launch, the city was a hub of creativity, with elegant women flocking to performances by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. The perfumer reflected on this vibrant period, noting that "Paris was the meeting place for cosmopolitan creators and artists, who found endless inspiration in the magnificence of the Orient." Djedi captures this exotic allure, with its warm heart of leather, moss, and wood, delicately intertwined with jasmine and rose. The fragrance was presented in a numbered Baccarat crystal bottle, featuring clean, straight-cut lines. This exclusive reissue was priced at 4,900 Francs.
The Westcar Papyrus
"... the text does seem corrupted, if you ask me. There are lots of weirdnesses in this text which might indicate that a child was learning in school and attempting to copy it. The handwriting for one thing is puerile. There also seem to be places where the person writing it has left something out."-- Geoff Graham
The setting is in the Fourth Dynasty and Pharaoh Khufu's sons are amusing their father by telling tales of magic. Prince Khafra told the first tale, then Djadjaemankh told the second, and finally, Prince Hordedef stood and spoke. Instead of a tale of the past, this prince spoke about what he knew of his own time.
"...But there is a man, your Majesty, of your own time but unknown to you, who is a great magician."
His Majesty said, "What is this Hordedef my son?"
Prince Hordedef replied, "There is a commoner, Djed-djedi is his name, who lives at Djed-djed-Sneferu. He is a man of one hundred and ten years; every day he eats five hundred loaves of bread, a haunch of ox is his meat, and he drinks one hundred jugs of beer as well. He knows how to reattach a severed head . He is also said to be able to make wild lions so obedient that the animal would follow him with a cord dragging on the ground. Furthermore, this Djedi has knowledge of the number of Iput in the wenet-sanctuary of Thoth.”
The pharaoh spent a good deal of time to seek for these chambers, for he planned to build something similar to his horizon. Wishing to model his own tomb on that of the secret rooms in the Temple of Thoth, Khufu ordered his son to bring the magician to him.
After a long journey, Hordedef managed to reach the magician. Plying him with offers of delicacies and all good things, Djed-djedi agreed to go to the court of Khufu with his family and collection magical spell papyri.
"Djed-djedi, why is it that I have not seen you before?"
Djed-djedi answered, "When one is summoned, one comes, Oh Sovereign, may you live, prosper, and be healthy. I have been called and I have come."
His Majesty asked, "Is it really true, this talk of your knowing how to reattach a severed head?"
Djed-djedi said, "Yes, it is I who know, Oh Sovereign, my lord, may you live, prosper, and be healthy."
Khufu then ordered a prisoner brought, thinking to lop off his head and see Djed-djedi's magic. Protesting, the magician said that he could not sacrifice humans for his magic. Instead, they found a goose Djed-djedi could work his magic upon.
The goose was placed on the west side of the courtyard with the head on the east. Then Djed-djedi recited his magic spells and the goose began waddling and the head moved also. When they had approached each other they joined and the goose stood up honking. The another bird was brought to him and he did to it likewise. His Majesty had an ox brought to him and its head was made to fall upon the earth. Again, Djed-djedi said his words of magic and the ox arose. Then he made a lion follow along behind him with its leash trailing on the earth.
After this display, Khufu realized that maybe the rumor about the magician were true.
Now the king says: “It is said that you know the number of Iput inside the wenet-sanctuary of Thoth. Now?”
Djedi replies: “May you be praised, oh sovereign, my lord! I don't know their number. But I know where they can be found.”
Khufu asks: “Where is it?”
Djedi answers: “There is a box of scrolls, made of flint, which is stored in a room called ‘archive’ at Heliopolis.”
The king orders: “Take that box!”
Pressing the magician further, Djed-djedi told the pharaoh that it could only be brought to him by the eldest of the triplets, who were still in the belly of Raddjedet, wife of a wab priest of Ra. These children, the magician prophesied, would inherit the kingship of the land of Egypt.
Trying to placate the pharaoh as his heart had grown heavy at the words, Djed-djedi told him that his son, and his son's son would rule before a child of Raddjedet. Asking when the woman was to give birth, Djed-djedi told the pharaoh that she would bear her children on the 15th day of the first month of winter.
His Majesty said, "It is then that the sand banks of the canal will be dry! I would have crossed over myself to see the temple of Ra, Lord of Sahbu."
"Then I will make four cubits of water over the sand banks so you can cross," said Djed-djedi.
Djed-djedi consented to stay with Prince Hordedef, until the appointed time.
Djedi appears only in the fourth story of the Westcar Papyrus - there is no archeological or historical evidence that he existed. Nevertheless he is object of great interest for historians and Egyptologists, since his magic tricks are connected to later cultural perceptions of the personality of king Khufu. Djedi is described as a commoner of extraordinary age (110), endowed with magical powers and talented in making prophecies.
Although this trick is probably a fable, it would be the first recorded instance of what we now know as the sawing the victim in half trick. For his reward Djedi is said to have been invited to move into the palace where he was offered his standard daily extraordinary diet, enhanced to palace standards: a portion an ox, a thousand loaves of bread, a hundred jugs of beer, and a hundred bunches of onions. He was also offered a special tomb among his relatives.
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments will be subject to approval by a moderator. Comments may fail to be approved or may be edited 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