Musée du Parfum

Private museum in Prissé, near Mâcon, presenting more than 4,000 antique perfume bottles from the 18th century to the present day.

Ask the museum for opening hoursFree admission

Directions

Musée du ParfumAsk the museum for opening hoursFree admission

About the museum

The Musée du Parfum opened in 1998 in Prissé, in the hamlet of Colonge near Mâcon. It is a private museum housed in the renovated cellars of a country house that also has guest rooms. From time to time the venue hosts art exhibitions.

It grew out of the passion of collector Nathalie Lancier for antique perfume bottles. Her collection numbers more than four thousand bottles, including miniatures, samples, pendant bottles to wear as jewellery, and very fine perfume ampoules once designed for air travel.

The display follows the history of perfumery and cosmetics from the 18th century to the present, by major periods: perfumery of crowned heads, the birth of modern perfumery, the Roaring Twenties and Art Deco, and the contemporary era. It features perfume houses such as Houbigant, Piver, Guerlain and Coty, as well as fashion designers, crystal makers such as Lalique and Baccarat, powder compacts and large display bottles. One section is devoted to Grasse, and others to bottles from Eastern Europe, Arab countries, China, Japan and the United States.

Highlights

More than 4,000 collectors’ perfume bottles
History of perfumery from the 18th century to the present
Bottles by Lalique, Baccarat and major perfume houses
Renovated cellars of a country house near Mâcon

Founded: 1998