During the mid-20th century, Lancôme produced a number of luxurious limited-edition perfume presentations, each designed to reflect the brand’s dedication to elegance, femininity, and French artistry. Among the most exquisite of these is the Mélisande flacon, introduced in 1954. Named after the mysterious heroine from Maurice Maeterlinck’s symbolist play Pelléas et Mélisande, the bottle embodies the romanticism and ethereal beauty suggested by its namesake. Like the literary Mélisande, the figure is serene, enigmatic, and otherworldly—qualities that made the bottle an instant object of desire among collectors and perfume connoisseurs alike.
The Mélisande bottle, created by the Georges Parant Glassworks, features a stylized standing female form, sculpted in soft pink-tinted opalescent glass. The gentle glow of the opaline finish gives the impression of light passing through mist, enhancing the feminine curves of the figure and adding an almost dreamlike quality. With her upright posture and flowing lines, the figure appears statuesque and calm—almost like a modern muse or perfume goddess. This bottle is not simply a container; it is a celebration of form, light, and femininity.
She is mounted on an oval, blue satin-covered cardboard base, and bears a golden label identifying the perfume. The bottle was housed inside of a blue satin covered oval, presentation case, lined in white satin and tied with a ribbon closure.
Measuring 6.75 inches tall by 3 inches wide, the flacon is elegant in scale, substantial enough to display proudly, yet intimate enough to feel personal. Designed by Georges Delhomme, Lancôme’s longtime artistic director, Mélisande was manufactured by Verreries Parant, a French glassworks founded around 1824. Though not as old as the famed Verrerie Blanche—later associated with Baccarat—Verreries Parant had developed a reputation by the mid-century for producing high-quality decorative glass, and their collaboration with Delhomme ensured that Mélisande met the highest standards of artistry and production.
This special bottle was used to house several of Lancôme’s most prized extrait de parfum offerings, including Magie, Flèches d'Or, and Trésor. The use of a shared bottle for multiple fragrances was not uncommon in luxury perfume marketing, especially when the bottle design itself was intended to evoke a timeless elegance independent of any one scent. In the case of Mélisande, the presentation elevated each perfume it contained, enhancing its value through visual beauty and historical resonance. Today, surviving examples are prized collectibles, sought for both their sculptural quality and their association with Lancôme’s golden age of perfume design.
In the mid-20th century, L’Art et la Mode—a publication that chronicled the intersection of haute couture, art, and luxury—frequently celebrated the exquisite perfume presentations of the era. Lancôme’s Mélisande bottle, first introduced in 1954, received particular praise for its artistic merit and refinement. In the 1954 issue, the publication noted: “Magie de Lancôme présenté dans la statuette de cristal Mélisande,” highlighting that one of the house’s most iconic perfumes was now being offered in a flacon that resembled a small sculpture—a harmonious blend of perfumery and fine art.
By 1959, L’Art et la Mode had revisited this exceptional creation, further praising its enduring appeal and noting how it had come to house not only Magie, but also Trésor and Flèches d'Or. The 1959 issue described it poetically: “contained in a frosted crystal bottle representing the beautiful Mélisande with long hair: the exquisitely feminine art object…” This description draws attention not only to the sculptural quality of the bottle, but also to the symbolic beauty of Mélisande herself—graceful, mysterious, and eternal. The frosted finish of the glass was likened to fine sculpture, diffusing light in a way that emphasized the elegance of her silhouette and the flowing line of her hair.
In yet another 1959 issue, L’Art et la Mode went further, observing: “Mélisande is a lightly colored crystal statuette, whose material evokes and gives effects comparable to those of a hard stone. It is a small masterpiece of line and taste.” Here, the writers placed Mélisande in the same aesthetic tradition as carved hardstone objets d’art—jewels of the decorative arts world. The article also remarked that this luxurious bottle could hold one’s choice of Magie, Trésor, Flèches, or Kypre, which it described as “the richest compositions of our time.” This statement reveals not only the versatility of the flacon, but also the level of prestige Lancôme attributed to the fragrances it contained.
Together, these reviews from L’Art et la Mode illustrate how Mélisande was viewed not simply as packaging, but as a deliberate and meaningful fusion of form and scent—an art object that encapsulated the feminine mystique and timeless glamour that defined Lancôme during the 1950s.
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