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Perfumery Through The Ages
Diy professional perfume making kits
Perfumery creation in Ancient Egypt
Until written languages were evolved within the civilisations of ancient times, recipes for Perfumery creation could have been handed down from one generation to the next only by word of mouth, but it appears that even long after writing became an everyday means of communication no records of perfume formulae were made.
The archaeological exploration of Egyptian tombs, such as that of Tutankhamun (who lived in the fourteenth century B.C.) which was opened in 1922, has brought to light the residues of what, over 3000 years ago, were perfumed ointments. The original composition of these ancient perfumes, long altered beyond redemption by the ravages of time, was unrecorded, and is regrettably beyond the reach of even the most sophisticated of our analytical processes; it is likely forever to remain a mystery.
It is, however, known that the Egyptians made the important discovery that if aromatic matter is soaked in an oil, such as Olive Oil, the oil will itself become fragrant, and that they used their knowledge of this process, which today we would call maceration, to prepare symbolic offerings to the Deity far more long-lasting than incense and, eventually, oily perfumes for personal use.
Swelled by imports from wherever aromatic plant or animal matter could be obtained, the range of items available to the perfumer in Ancient Egypt was considerable. It included Myrrh, Galbanum, Cassia, Cardamom, Cedarwood, Angelica, Benzoin, Storax, Labdanum and Olibanum, together with Ambergris, Musk and Civet. Also, Oranges and Orange flowers were pressed for their fragrance.
Precious oil- or fat-based perfumes, prepared in secret by the priests, were employed by the Egyptians, and later by the Israelites, as offerings to the Deity, to whom only the very best, most costly and rare was deemed worthy of presentation. The skill of the Egyptians in the use of perfumes for purposes of embalming the dead is legendary.
Perfumery creation in the Middle East
The Egyptians were accomplished teachers, and they imparted their knowledge of Perfumery creation and of the manufacture of cosmetics to the Assyrians, Babylonians, Chaldeans, Hebrews, Persians and Greeks, in succession, each of whom developed their own varieties of perfumes in accordance with ingredients prepared from indigenous aromatic plants.
It is believed that Jewish knowledge of perfumery was gained during the period of exile of the Jews in Egypt, and the Bible affords abundant evidence of the development of this knowledge to a high level.
The anointing of the kings of Israel with fragrant oils, a practice intended originally to symbolise the giving by God to mankind of a precious gift in the person of the anointed, led eventually to the appropriation of perfumes by the rulers of the ancient world for their own enjoyment and, ultimately, to the selling of perfumes by the priests to all who could afford them.
Perfumery creation in China and India
Developments similar to those described for Egypt took place earlier in China. where Musk was employed at first in medicine, and later as a Perfumery creation ingredient of outstanding tenacity, while in India, a country to become famous for its Sandalwood, a whole variety of flowers was used to prepare fragrance derivatives, for example, Champaca, Jasmin, Rose, together with species little known in other parts of the world. It was in India that the highly odorous secretion of Civet came to be first employed as a perfume ingredient.
Regarding Musk, the Musk Deer was for centuries exploited in North-West China, and, in recent times, has been hunted almost to extinction. To preserve the species, the hunting and killing of this animal was made illegal some years ago, and so supplies of Natural Musk to the perfumery trade have dwindled to a very small fraction of what once they were, and the price of the product is now virtually prohibitive in all but the most costly perfumes. Fortunately, there are innumerable substitutes for genuine Musk, but very few of them can even approach its fixative and radiating power.
A far happier state of affairs exists with regard to genuine Sandalwood Oil, long regarded in India as a holy fragrance. Owing to the imposition of stringent legislation, this valuable product is likely to remain available, at a price, for the
foreseeable future. All Sandalwood trees, the wood itself and the essential oil are Government property, and distillation is controlled by licence.
Genuine East Indian Sandalwood Oil is, like Musk, an inimitable Perfumery creation material, finding application not only as a component of woody and Oriental perfumes, but also as a blender and fixative in floral, chypre, fougère and other types of perfumes.
As in the case of Musk, there are many substitutes intended as partial or total replacements for this precious commodity. Some of these are very good indeed, but none quite equals the genuine oil.
Traditional Indian perfumery continues in much the same way as it always has, with various forms of incense heading the list of native products. Sandalwood Oil itself is an essential ingredient of the attars, which are the principal traditional forms of perfume prepared in India for application to the skin.
Perfumery creation in Central America
In Central America, the civilisations of the Incas, the Aztecs and the Mayas, of whom remnants of only the last-named survive today in Guatemala, existed for three millennia from 1500 B.C. These peoples burned, as offerings, large quantities of incense made from Copal Resin and Copal Wood, and used tobacco leaves for their aromatic properties.
The practice of burning incense remains today a part of the way of life of the remaining Mayas, who so long ago used this device in support of their prayers for rain and for their safety during hunting-expeditions.
Perfumery creation in Japan
The origin of Perfumery creation in Japan can be traced to the practice of Buddhism, a religion requiring the burning of incense, which was introduced there in the middle of the fifth century A.D.
Aloe wood was at first the material of choice for this purpose, but with increasing knowledge of aromatic materials brought about through overseas trade with China, Africa, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Sumatra and Malaysia, the Japanese were fairly soon using Sandalwood, Costus Root, Cinnamon Bark, Musk, Ambergris, and the fragrant oleo-resins of Styrax and Olibanum.
Apart from incense, early Japanese perfumes took many forms when finally they became available for purchase by the people: powders, essences, perfumed charcoal and pastes became popular, and their popularity spread eventually to Europe.
Perfumery creation in Ancient Greece
Influenced by Eastern culture, the Greeks became skilful in the art of Perfumery creation and in the preparation and use of a great variety of cosmetics.
In addition to incense, and perfumed oils and ointments, which are believed to have been made by macerating parts of fragrant plants in vegetable oils, they made and used large quantities of fragrant waters.
Aromatic materials used by the Greeks included Orris, extracts of Rose, Tuberose and Violet, spices, herbs, precious woods and fragrant plant exudates. Most of these products were brought to Greece by traders from the Middle and Far East and from Africa
Since the commercial ties between Greece and the Orient remained close, Greek Perfumery creation was strongly influenced by the practises of Far East. However the Greeks evolved and made many perfumes of their own.
