Time to shake the piggy bank: one week to go till the Perfume Bottles Auction 2026
You wear fragrance. But have you ever thought of collecting it? Jo Fairley reports on the upcoming Perfume Bottles Auction, the flacon-fabulous highlight of the collector’s year and a true celebration of scent artistry. (Date for your calendar: 2nd May 2026.)
f952 Corday ‘Rue de le Paix’ presentation as a street lamp for Fame, Jet, and Zigane, estimate $600-800
Maybe you’re a design obsessive. A serious collector. Or just a fragrance-lover who likes to explore the history of the perfume world. Whichever, you need to have this event in your diary.
Although the Perfume Bottles Auction takes place in the USA – this year, at 1pm EST (6pm UK time) – it is a truly international affair, attracting bottle collectors from around the world. It’s organised by expert Ken Leach, whose New York antiques emporium has for decades been a mecca for bottle collectors, and whose stated aim is ‘to create public and corporate awareness of the artistry to be found in vintage perfume presentation.’
Bids can be placed online and via phone, through LiveAuctioneers – click here. The whole, drool-worthy catalogue for this year’s auction can be viewed here – but we’ve picked out here some of the lots that would be on our own wishlist. Even if you don’t choose to bid, this line-up offers a fascinating window on the history of the art of glass, and its place in perfumery. It’s a glimpse into the world of lost scents, with a whiff of deep nostalgia gusting through the entire line-up.
Important 1910 Baccarat perfume bottle as an inkwell for Alphonse Gravier ‘Me Voiçii’, estimate $10,000-15,000
You do not need to be a trillionaire to bid. Although some lots go for a fortune – the highest price ever realised in these sales is $216,000 dollars, paid in 2006 for a limited‑edition 1939 ‘Trésor de la Mer’ bottle by René Lalique, produced for Saks Fifth Avenue – many go for just a few hundred dollars. We have often kicked ourselves for not bidding, frankly, and don’t intend to make that same mistake in 2026.
This year’s auction features several items by Schiaparelli – and in the pages of our new On The Scentmagazine, we showcase several lots from past and present auctions by the fascinating, rule-breaking designer who we profile in an eight-page feature. For 2026, items listed include an immaculate, Salvador Dalí-designed bottle for ‘Le Roy Soleil’, produced by Baccarat. (Ken Leach tells us that the stoppers for these bottles are usually chipped, whereas this is pristine.)
Don’t tell a soul, but the lot that we have our sights set on – see the foot of this feature, for pictures – is a collection of ‘Shocking’ fragrance items, including soaps and perfumes, which is estimated at what seems like a ridiculously affordable $400-600. We also very much fancy the Corday enamelled ‘street lamp’ creation, each of the three lamps containing a glass bottle with a screw cap (and paper labels), still half-filled with this perfume house’s long-lost fragrances, ‘Fame’, ‘Jet’ and ‘Zigane’.
Rare Czech Art Deco perfume bottle ‘Ingrid’ line, estimate $8,000-10,000
Modernist 1930s Gabilla perfume bottle ‘Intrigue’, estimate $8,000-10,000
1939 Elizabeth Arden ‘It’s You’, white opaline crystal perfume bottle by Baccarat, estimate $1,000-2,000
There are, of course, charges over and above the hammer price – a buyer’s premium, shipping (and almost certainly duties to pay). But looking – no, swooning! – is absolutely free, giving an illustrated overview of fragrance history and the magic of perfumery, which has us longing to time travel, to smell some of these lost treasures; although some still contain the original juice, and might just give you an idea of how an olfactory masterpiece once smelled, most will have morphed into something else altogether, even if there’s a decent amount in the flacon.
c1940 Group of Schiaparelli ‘Shocking’ items, estimate $400-600
A quite exquisite printed catalogue is available as a beautiful keepsake – no need to bid for this. They’re priced $60 (Priority Mail) in the USA, $85 for International (Priority Mail) and $96.95 for International Express.
You can order from Ken Leach via Paypal – his e-mail is kenleach47@aol.com, for payment.
Meanwhile, a disclaimer: we can’t promise that it won’t be us bidding against you, on 2nd May. And hands off the Schiaparelli soaps!