There’s posh: Penhaligon’s Portraits take up (temporary) residence at The Royal Academy of Arts. (And we went to the preview.)
The minds of the On The Scent team are officially blown by Penhaligon’s all-too-temporary pop-up at The Royal Academy of Arts, writes Jo Fairley – a total joy for the senses, which runs from 18th-20th September
The World According to Arthur – one of the Portraits brought to life at The Royal Academy pop-up show. PHOTOS: Jo Fairley
A decade ago, the On The Scent team (in our previous guise) was present when Penhaligon’s first introduced their Portraits collection, at a beautiful townhouse on Mayfair’s Charles Street. It was a spiffy event, for sure – and from Day One we were taken with these striking fragrances, each topped by a ‘spirit animal’ ranging from a bear to a bull, via a stag, an elephant, a rhino and more.
But little did we imagine that – fast-forward 10 years – the entire family (now with an extensive family tree, spanning ‘noble patriarchs and scheming spouses and charming rogues’, would be celebrated with a fabulous but fleeting exhibition at The Royal Academy of Arts on Burlington Gardens.
The foyer entrance stacked with copies of THE WHO’S WHO OF LONDON, with the sweeping staircase leading up to the exhibition space
First off (because we know many readers will want to visit): this is a public, ticketed event, which we are informed by the Penhaligon’s team is mostly sold out on Eventbrite – at time of writing, there are still some left for Friday 18th September, and there is also an allocation of tickets available on the door.
This multi-sensory exhibition is truly worth a visit, to appreciate the attention to detail and sheer artistic beauty. Alongside each Singer Sargent-style artwork, and a vignette of objects arranged to conjure up each Portrait’s personality (including specially commissioned gilded headgear by Stephen Jones, echoing the caps of the bottles), you can spritz and sniff your way through the entire collection.
There are many different – all sensational – elements in the show. You first enter into a classic high-ceilinged Royal Academy salon space, hung not only with the Portraits but also a wall of photographs commissioned for the lavish coffee table book that accompanies the show, titled THE WHO’S WHO OF LONDON, wittily written as if observed through a butler’s gimlet eyes.
Portraits perfumer Daphné Bugey of dsm-firmenich in the room dedicated to her new creation, The Manoeures of the Baroness
In the next room, draped with fabric and hung with collage-style artwork that’s a nod to the fragrances’ illustrated boxes, is laid a lavishly decorated table. Each place setting has also been designed as if for an honoured member of the Portraits family: a typewriter at one place, jelly-and-cream desserts at another, a chunky bunch of keys – surely, to an ancestral castle – adorning the plate of yet another guest. Slip on the headphones resting on the starched tablecloth, and you can listen to a jazzy soundtrack – the perfect background music for an extravagant, stylish feast.
The third room is entirely dedicated to the latest member of the Portraits family, The Manoeuvres of the Baroness, by dsm-firmenich’s Daphné Bugey, who was present at today’s private view; this space is dominated by a giant stone pillar, as if from a Roman ruin, with a film projected on one wall to conjure the world of the Baroness, and the silhouette of a gazelle’s horns (like a blow-up of the shadow cast by the cap of the Portraits’ Baroness), against a cream curtain. (See photo.)
Daphné is also responsible for the original 2016 fragrances, cool, green floral The Revenge of Lady Blanche, spicy-woody Much Ado About the Duke (which features a jigger of gin, alongside rose and vetiver), and 2017’s warm decadent rum-and-tobacco Roaring Radcliff.
The perfumer explained to the On The Scent team her inspiration for 2026’s The Manoeuvres of the Baroness (pictured). Daphné’s code name for the fragrance was ‘La Baronne de Chantilly’, who she imagined growing up at France’s famed Chateau de Chantilly, before infiltrating London Society and crossing elegant paths with the Portraits family members. ‘The Baroness’ showcases sunlit orange blossom and sandalwood, together with cedar for strength and backbone; Daphné was also inspired by the fine filigree of Chantilly lace, along with Chantilly cream – delicious, sweet, air-whipped, conjured by a touch of vanilla in this new fragrance, giving a soft sweetness to this amber-woody-gourmand.
Limited edition souvenir mug of the show, created exclusively for The Royal Academy of Arts
One of the table settings conjuring each of the Portraits characters
On The Scent’s Suzy Nightingale modelling a Stephen Jones headpiece
And there is one last element of fabulousness, as we are invited to ‘exit through gift shop’. But what a gift shop. The fragrances are all lined up to purchase, displayed on a long mahogany table that would surely comfortably seat the entire Portraits family. On shelves along the back wall are candles, bath treats, THE WHO’S WHO OF LONDON souvenir totes and mugs produced purely for the three-day event, along with a wall of postcards adorned with the Portraits portraits, as well as photographs from the exhibition/book.
Probably our favourite-ever museum gift shop to have exited through…
This is perfume, recognised as art. Something we always long to see – but which has rarely been expressed so creatively.
The Royal Academy of Arts, 6 Burlington Gardens, London W1S 3ET