Located in the Opéra Garnier district in Paris, the Fragonard Perfume Museum welcomes amateurs and enthusiasts for a free guided tour to discover the secrets of perfume making and its extraordinary history from Antiquity to the present day. The Fragonard Perfume Museum is a museum enchants vistors senses by presenting the art of perfumery. Enjoy this unusual museum, which takes us into the history of the Fragonard perfume, its enchanting smells and its centuries of fascinating stories.
A stone’s throw from the Opéra Garnier, this great museum dedicated to Perfume in Paris offers a unique museum concept and exhibits in a didactic and original way all the stages that give life to this mythical object: perfume. In a second part of the museum, an exceptional collection of old bottles traces the history of perfume from ancient Egypt to the 20th century: kohl pots, pomanders, perfume burners, travel kits, salt bottles, precious bottles…
The museum of exchange and history and of which Maison Fragonard wished to keep the spirit, has been turned into a theatre, a bicycle ride and finally a store of English furniture. The museum presents the secrets of perfume making, from the raw material to the profession of perfumer. You will find a magnificent range of precious bottles from antiquity to the present day. The visitor will be immersed in the atmosphere of a perfume factory dating from the end of the 19th century, by discovering a scenography combining old objects, archives and videos.
The Fragonard Perfumery shares with you the manufacturing secrets of its formula, from the raw materials to the bottling, including the distillation, the formulation and the craft of the nose. Have a good time surrounded by thousands of bewitching smells Discover all the secrets of perfumery from the guide, whom professionally trained in this delicate art. Discover the essences that make up your favorite perfume, the role of perfume given during the different periods of history.
With a rich collection of works of art related to perfumery unique in the world, Maison Fragonard exhibits in this museum exceptional pieces spanning the centuries from Antiquity to the present day. After learning everything there is to know about perfumes, admire the art objects in the museum: bottles from the Pharaohs to Fabergé, beauty product vases dating from ancient Egypt, jewelry bottles, from kohl pots to incense burners, potpourri and others precious bottles, you can enjoy the luxurious intimacy of their owners.
The boutique offers all the perfumed ranges of Maison Fragonard: perfumes, eau de toilette, soaps, candles, diffusers, but also cosmetics, shower gels and gift sets. Slip into the shoes of an apprentice perfumer by creating your own cologne. An unforgettable, playful and captivating sensory experience centered on the creation of a fragrance around aromatic notes, citrus fruits and orange blossom.
History
Founded in 1926, Parfumerie Fragonard is a family workshop endowed with unique traditional French know-how. The Perfume Museum, located at 9 rue Scribe, was the first to see the light of day in Paris, in 1983. The first museumby the Fragonard perfume company, within a Napoleon III style house (built in 1860). Its rooms feature period furniture and perfume exhibits, including old perfume bottles, containers, toiletries, stills for the steam distillation of perfume extracts. The history of perfume making and packaging. The display of a perfume organ made up of tiers of ingredient bottles arranged around a scale used to mix the perfumes.
After long months of renovation and expansion work, it now houses a collection enriched by numerous acquisitions recently made by Françoise Coast. Unusual, rare and precious, these new works of art are added to an already very complete set, also including objects of curiosity, such as a civet, a trebuchet or even objects for the production and extraction of plants. with perfume. Perfumer from Grasse since 1926, Fragonard shares its secular know-how and its unique heritage with its visitors to tell the story of perfume from its origins to the present day.
In 2014, the Fragonard company acquired ownership of the real estate site located at the address of the Square de l’Opéra. The new Paris Perfume Museum housed the Eden Theater in the 19th century, and owes its orientalist style to it. From 1896, the English furniture dealer Maple & Co settled there until 2014, when he sold the establishment to the Fragonard house.
The museum
The Perfume Museum offers a unique museum concept and exhibits in a didactic and original way all the stages that give life to this legendary luxury object and of our daily lives: perfume. Its collection of 70 scents, to smell throughout the visit. A bit like admiring works of art, we linger in front of scents reminiscent of rose, basil, lemongrass… And the devices making these experiences possible are not lacking in originality: fragrant bubbles to take down, giant Corian corollas that diffuse perfume when they capture our presence, luminous alcoves to immerse yourself completely in the universe of scent…
The Fragonard Perfumery presents all the manufacturing secrets: raw materials, picking, extraction, distillation, formulation, industrialization, bottling and of course the creative process and the profession of the nose. Then, in the second part of the museum, an exceptional collection of old bottles traces the history of perfume from ancient Egypt to the 20th century: kohl pots, pomanders, vinaigrettes, perfume burners, potpourri, travel boxes, salt bottles, precious bottles…
On the ground floor, in the part devoted to this chronology, one can smell myrrh or kyphi, the very first perfume of humanity created under Ancient Egypt or even discover “perfumed” anecdotes about couples of legend. A light introduction to the sensory experiences offered on the upper floor, also rich in interactive games such as riddles or the “confidence sofa” which tests our olfactory memory.
On the third and last floor of this museum, the work of perfumers is given pride of place. We discover, in a boudoir dedicated to the rose, how everyone can reinterpret the smell of this flower and what are the stages of creating a perfume thanks to video testimonials from specialists. For those who wish to know all the dimensions of their work, the mysterious perfume organ of the laboratory offers a beautiful illustration, all in sound and light.
Raw Materials
Installed in the spirit of a cabinet of curiosities, the pieces exhibited in this first space evoke the history of the perfumery laboratory. The showcase presents objects used in the past: pharmacy jars, geographical maps, engravings, animal materials, measuring instruments, botanical boards. In addition, an interactive map offers an olfactory journey around the five continents to discover the most emblematic perfumed flowers: osmanthus from China, bergamot from Italy, sandalwood from Australia, etc.
The Still Room
Here, the visitor is immersed in the atmosphere of an early 20th century perfumery factory. Stills, old photos and archival and recent films retrace the different stages of perfume making and bear witness to the evolution of the profession over the past hundred years. Modernized and mechanized, the gestures remain the same. Those of men who cultivate, pick, select, mix and bottle these precious juices.
The Odor
Magician, artist, chemist, the perfumer uses all his talents to compose a perfume. He has a unique know-how and develops his own olfactory signature. Often compared to a work of art, the creation of a perfume requires months, sometimes years. Creator in essence, all the art of the odor is to know how to innovate, smell and transcribe the spirit of the times.
The Olfaction Room
Dedicated to temporary exhibitions and to our flower of the year, this space invites visitors to lend themselves to the game of olfaction and refine their sense of smell. Test your nose!
The Perfumer’s Workshop
Behind this door is the perfumer’s workshop… A veritable laboratory of smells, this space, dedicated to the Apprentis Parfumeurs workshops, allows you to discover the secrets of creating fragrances.
Collections
Rich in an exceptional collection of works of art related to perfumery, the Fragonard Museum exhibits rare pieces from Antiquity to the 20th century. Through the ages and trends, perfume can be found in three states: liquid, solid and vaporous. The collections reflect in chronological and historical order these different aspects of perfume and its various uses. Started by Jean-François Costa in the 1950s, the collection is constantly expanding under the impetus of Anne, Agnès and Françoise Costa, the current leaders of the House.
Thanks to his uncle, who very early on had undertaken to share his knowledge of art history with him, Jean-François Costa, the father of the current leaders, was passionate about old objects all his life. Visits to museums, travels, readings, discussions with experts, curators, historians or simple enthusiasts, have forged his taste for antiquities and more particularly for the French 18th century.
A pioneer in the field, Jean-François Costa began his collection of perfume art objects in the 1950s, at a time when perfume did not arouse the curiosity it encounters today. Initially out of professional interest, he quickly became an essential collector, constituting a set unique in the world both in the quality of the pieces and in their number and diversity: distillation apparatus, works of art from antiquity to the middle of the 20th century. Trained by their father and just as passionate, Agnès and Françoise perpetuate his work and continue to regularly enrich the museum’s collections with new acquisitions.
The Shop
Located above the spaces of the museum, the boutique offers all the perfumed ranges of Maison Fragonard: perfumes, eau de toilette, soaps, candles, diffusers, but also cosmetics, shower gels and gift sets. The Fragonard offer is particularly rich and multiple: floral, fruity, chypre, woody or even oriental, a wonderful way to extend your visit by discovering all the olfactory families and finding the perfume perfectly suited to your personality, tastes and desires. The Fragonard lifestyle, decoration, fashion and accessories collections can be found in a nearby boutique located at 5 rue Boudreau, Paris 9th.