Late Victorian Perfume Bottle
These late victorian perfume bottle examples are exquisite pocket vessels of glass and silver designed for personal fragrance during the nineteenth century.
Late Victorian Perfume Bottle
A late victorian perfume bottle is a portable scent container fashioned during the closing decades of the nineteenth century. These pieces encompass scent bottles, vinaigrettes, scent flasks, and double scent perfume bottles.
The specimens seen on this page primarily date from the 1880s and 1890s, originating from English and French workshops. Collectors frequently encounter vessels formed from cut glass, opaline glass, and amethyst glass paired with sterling silver or gilded metal mounts.
How they were made
Makers utilised heavy glass bodies formed through cutting, moulding, or blowing, employing colours such as ruby, cranberry, green, and opaque opaline. These glass reservoirs were then fitted with hinged sterling silver caps, often decorated with repoussé floral scroll work or cherub motifs.
Metalwork involved cast and chased silver, sometimes gilt, alongside ormolu mounts on French examples. Artisans secured tight seals using internal stoppers and corks to prevent the evaporation of precious scent.
Late Victorian Perfume Bottle Retail Price Guide 2026
Typical asking prices for late victorian perfume bottle among the pieces listed under this phrase on Sellingantiques today, from the lower quarter to the upper quarter. They describe what is for sale here now, not the wider market.
Listings feature sterling silver paired with amethyst glass, ruby glass, and opaline glass from the 1880 and 1890 periods.
What varies in quality
Quality rests in the weight and clarity of the glass, alongside the crispness of the silver repoussé work on the caps. Finer examples display deep hand-cutting and substantial gauge silver rather than thin stamped metal.
George Brace
The Late Victorian Perfume Bottle Glossary
- Repoussé
- A metalworking technique where the artisan hammers the design from the reverse side to form raised floral scrolls or decoration on the silver cap.
- Opaline glass
- An opaque, pastel-hued glass popular in the nineteenth century, often tinted in delicate shades of pale blue or white.
- Vinaigrette
- A small ornamental box or bottle containing a sponge soaked in aromatic vinegar, used during the Victorian era to ward off unpleasant odours.
- Ormolu
- Gilded bronze or metal mounts applied to decorative objects, frequently seen on French nineteenth-century pieces.
- Sterling silver
- A silver alloy containing 92.5 percent pure silver by mass, standard for English hallmarked bottle caps of this period.
Late Victorian Perfume Bottle: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I use a vinaigrette?
A vinaigrette holds a small vinegar-soaked sponge beneath a pierced internal grille rather than liquid perfume.
Open the hinged outer lid to release the aromatic vapours when needed.
Were these bottles carried daily?
Victorian ladies carried these small vessels inside fitted handbags or chatelaines attached to their waistbands.
The secure screw caps and stoppers prevented leaks during travel.
How are English and French pieces told apart?
English pieces typically feature sterling silver hallmarks indicating the assay office and date letter.
French examples often rely on ormolu mounts and distinctive glass houses like Moser without British assay marks.