Frangipanni by Guerlain c1879

Frangipanni by Guerlain: launched in 1879. Created by Pierre-François Pascal Guerlain.

Fragrance Composition:

So what does it smell like? It is a mixed floral bouquet based on the scent of plumeria also called frangipani. Frangipani was a popular fragrance during the 19th century, also called Frangipanni in French speaking countries. 

Formulas for frangipani perfume appeared in several perfumery manuals and pharmacopeias during the period. These formulas were based on mixed blends to suggest the exotic odor of frangipani. Natural extracts, infusions, absolutes and tinctures would have been used early on, but as the 19th century drew to a close, newly discovered synthetics and aroma compounds like heliotropin, coumarin and vanillin would have been utilized. The general recipe included the following ingredients:

• Top notes: bergamot, neroli, rose geranium, bitter almond, lemon, lavender, orange, pimento
• Middle notes: cloves, acacia, ginger, rose, jasmine, heliotrope, tuberose, cinnamon, orange blossom, violet
• Base notes: cedar, vetiver, civet, musk, tonka bean, vanilla, orris, sandalwood, ambergris, benzoin, tolu, styrax, peru balsam

 

The Historical and Critical Dictionary of Monsieur Pierre Bayle, 1697:

"Frangipani: A very ancient Roman family descended from the high ancestry of Roman senators, and allied to the greatest Houses of Europe, owes its name to an admirable charity exercised towards the poor during the famine. Mutio Frangipani served France in the Pope's troops during the reign of Charles IX. One of his grandsons had jobs in the same Kingdom under Louis XIII. 

This grand-child of Mutio Frangipani invented the composition for perfume and scents, which yet retain the name of Frangipane. From the following passage in Le Laboureur's Memoirs of Castelnau, regarding "the composition of the parfum and the scents, it appears that the brother of the Marquis Frangipani had a share in the invention." 

He thought it an honor to be last of that illustrious name, and did not stick to say, that he kept himself single out of necessity, because his quality did not allow him to mix his blood with upstarts, wherewith the ancient majority majesty of Rome had been dishonored. 

Menage, was a contemporary, and had met the Marquis and his inventions in Paris, says in his Origini della Lingua Italiana, published at Geneva in 1685: 'From one of those Lords Frangipani, we have seen him here in Paris, certain perfumed gloves were called Frangipani's Gloves.' Mr. Menage after that quotes some Latin Verses of Cerifantes which are quite pretty. They are taken from an Ode he addressed to Voiture, and which was printed at the end of Balzac's Lettres Latines." 

Balzac describes Frangipani in a letter to Madam Defloges: "He yesterday became willingly your tributary, and obliged himself to send you, every year a pretty good quantity of his pastilles (an odoriferous composition). In case you should approve of them, they will become more renowned than Frangipani's Gloves. But, as your people of Limousin might possibly mistake this occasion, you'll inform them (if you think proper), that the perfumer in question is worth above thirty thousand livres a year, and enjoys the chief dignity of this Province; and that this Glover is a Roman lord, Camp-Master or Major-General in the King's armies, and related to St Gregory the Great; and, what I value much more than all this, he is one of the worthiest men in the world.' 

 

The Cyclopædia, Or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, 1819:

"Frangipane, an exquisite kind of perfume, frequently given to the leather whereof gloves, purses, bags & etc are made. It takes its name from a Roman nobleman, of the ancient family of Frangipani, who was the inventor of it. There is also a kind of perfumed liquor of the same denomination, said to have been invented by a grandson of Mutio Frangipani; and also a perfumed kind of ros solis, called by the same name."

The Monthly magazine of pharmacy, chemistry, medicine, 1883:

"This celebrated perfume is said to have been the invention of one of the earliest of the Roman nobles, named "Frangipani." One member of this ancient family, Mercutio Frangipani, served in France in the Papal army during the reign of Charles IX. The grandson of this nobleman was the Marquis Frangipani, Maréchal des Armées of Louis XIII, and he it was who invented a method of perfuming gloves, Guanti de Frangipani. Frangipani literally means "broken bread," and is derived from frangi, to break, and panis, bread. 

What the composition of the perfume that was gained for the Marquis so much reputation has not been discovered; this much, however, is certain, that various compositions as pomades, essence and powder, distinguished by the name frangipani, or frangipane were sold by perfumes down to the latter part of the last century [18th], when they gradually fell into disuse. GWS Piesse, in his "Art of Perfumery," says, "the powder or sachet is composed of every known spice in equal proportions, to which is added ground orris root in weight equal to the whole, with 1 percent of musk and civet. The extract from these powders was first prepared by Mercutio Frangipani, by digesting frangipani powders in spirits of wine, which dissolves out the fragrant principles. This has the merit of being the most lasting perfume known." 

The perfume of the present day bearing the name of Frangipani appears to be obtained from the frangipani plant, plumeria alba, which is said to yield the "eternal perfume" so popular, and is a native of the West India Islands. In Antigua and St Domingo, the plant grows in great abundance."

Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1872:

"Mercutio Frangipani, the famous Italian botanist, visited the West Indies in 1493. The sailors perceived a delicious fragrance as they neared Antigua, and Mercutio told them it proceeded from the Plumeria Alba."

Perfumery and Essential Oil Record, 1915:

"On board the "Santa Maria" with Columbus was one Mercutio Frangipani, and in the Papal army assisting the French king Charles IX, against the Huguenots was a Count Mutio Frangipani, an alchemist, evidently of some repute. The grandson of the latter was the Marquis Frangipani....A revival of certain perfumes bearing the name occurred in the [18]50s, and formulae.." 

Bottles:

Presented in the Carre flacon.

Fate of the Fragrance:

Discontinued, date unknown.