Fragrance History · The Met
This small hard-paste porcelain scent bottle, made in Vienna around 1730 under factory director Claudius Innocentius Du Paquier, borrows its shape from a much older, humbler object: the medieval pilgrim flask.
Essential Details
Object at a Glance
| Manufactory | Vienna, Du Paquier period |
| Date | Circa 1730 |
| Medium | Hard-paste porcelain, gold |
| Height | 3 3/8 in. (8.6 cm) |
| Collection | The Jack and Belle Linsky Collection, The Met |
From Pilgrim Flask to Perfume Bottle
Medieval travelers carried water in leather pilgrim flasks — a practical, flattened form. Later centuries adapted that same silhouette into large, opulent objects made of silver or glass, and eventually shrank it down again, this time as a fitting shape for a luxury item meant to hold expensive fragrance rather than water.
Decoration and Craft
This particular bottle is decorated in low relief with shells, chinoiserie figures, and ornamental strapwork — hallmarks of the Du Paquier factory’s output in the early 18th century, and a reminder that a container for perfume was frequently treated with the same decorative ambition as the fragrance itself.
Why Shape Carried Meaning
Choosing a pilgrim-flask silhouette for something as precious and small as a scent bottle wasn’t incidental — it borrowed the form’s history of travel and utility, then elevated it into pure luxury. It’s a small but telling example of how fragrance containers have always carried meaning well beyond their practical function.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where and when was this scent bottle made?
In Vienna, around 1730, during the Du Paquier period of the city’s porcelain manufactory.
Why does the bottle resemble a pilgrim flask?
The flattened pilgrim-flask shape, originally a practical form for carrying water, was later adapted at small scale as a fitting shape for a luxury fragrance container.