Osmothèque
| Osmothèque
|
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|---|---|
 Exterior view of the Osmothèque (2013) |
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| Archive type | Fragrance archive |
| Coordinates | 48 ° 49 '1.8 " N , 2 ° 8' 29.6" E |
| place | Versailles |
| Visitor address | 36, rue du Parc de Clagny, 78100 Versailles, France |
| founding | 1990 |
| scope | 3,000 fragrances (January 2013) |
| Website | www.osmotheque.fr |
The osmothèque (composition of the Greek οσμή osme ' smell ' and θήκη thékē 'storage place') is a fragrance archive in Versailles, France .
history
Concept and preliminary work
After the perfumer Jean Kerléo was appointed President of the Société Française des Parfumeurs (SFP) in 1976 , he proposed to the members to set up an archive for odors. In addition to archiving known fragrances, Kerléo also planned the reconstruction of lost fragrance compositions based on old formulas and descriptions.
Kerléo pursued the project against much opposition over the next two decades. Many companies and perfumers had reservations about entrusting their secret formulas to an archive.
In the 1980s, Kerléo succeeded in reproducing perfumes by Jean Patou that were no longer available . In 1986 his team received several formulas from the estate administrator of the former perfume manufacturer F. Millot, including that of the no longer available classic Crêpe de Chine by perfumer Jean Desprez from 1925. Kerléo vouched for the formulas to be kept in the archives.
Active implementation only began in 1988 after Gérard Delcour, President of the Comité Français du Parfum (CFP), and Didier Simond, President of the Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Versailles-Val-d'Oise-Yvelines, signaled their support.
opening
The Osmothèque was opened on April 26, 1990. Together with perfumers such as Jean-François Blayn, Raymond Chaillan, Jean-Claude Ellena , Yuri Gutsatz, Jeannine Mongin, Raymond Pouliquen, Guy Robert, Henri Sebag, Philippe Lepage, André Gerber and Yves Tanguy, Kerléo was initially able to produce 400 perfume formulas, including the of 70 no longer available perfumes.
In 2005 the collection had grown to 1,200 perfumes, including 300 that were no longer available. In 2013 the archive already stored over 3,000 fragrances, 400 of which were no longer available. One of the oldest preserved archival materials is the description of a perfume for the Parthian kings, which Pliny the Elder wrote in his Naturalis historia around 77 AD.
The collection also includes perfumes from the time of the Roman Empire , the fragrance water of the Queen of Hungary from the 14th century and the perfume Napoleon Bonapartes in exile on St. Helena. Modern classics from Chanel and Christian Dior are also part of the collection.
All scents recorded can be searched for in a database on the archive website. The Osmothèque also includes a library of perfumes and a specialist bookshop. The Osmothèque publishes studies and a magazine and organizes conferences and specialist meetings.
Since 2008 the perfumer Patricia de Nicolaï has been president of the Osmothèque.
Storage of the fragrances
The fragrances are kept in a cellar that is constantly cooled to 12 degrees Celsius. To protect the perfumes from the effects of light, they are stored in tinted glass bottles. Each time a bottle is opened, the perfume is covered with the noble gas argon , which is heavier than air and thus settles on the liquid and prevents it from oxidizing .
Web links
- Official website osmotheque.fr
- In search of the lost scents ( Memento from July 14, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) at pm-magazin.de
- Versailles: In the Museum of Fragrances at focus.de
- L'Osmothèque - Preserving The Past To Ensure The Future at sarahcolton.com (PDF, English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Presentation of the collection ( Memento of the original from February 28, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at osmotheque.fr, accessed October 14, 2013
- ↑ a b c d Our History ( Memento of the original from September 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at osmotheque.fr, accessed October 14, 2013
- ↑ a b c Mădălina Diaconu: touch, smell, taste: an aesthetic of the anesthetized senses. Königshausen & Neumann, 2005, ISBN 978-3826030680 , page 300
- ↑ a b c d e Always follow your nose - France and its perfumers at dradio.de, accessed on October 14, 2013
- ↑ The Osmothèque at atlasobscura.com, accessed on 14 October 2013
- ↑ Search ( Memento of the original from May 29, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at osmotheque.fr, accessed October 14, 2013
- ↑ Osmothèque, Société Française des Parfumeurs, 18 June 2013 ( Memento of the original dated November 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
