Creation notebook #4 - Tanagra
Looking for vintage bottles or posters is an integral part of our work. It is by bringing together the scattered archives of Violet that we legitimize our action and aim to restore part of the French heritage.
By recovering an old bottle in an auction in 2017, we discovered a notice of use and presentation of Violet. Since then, this invaluable find has contributed to the positioning of the House.
This note contained a particular mention: “The name of VIOLET is a guarantee of quality. All its perfumes are modern, powerful, tenacious and young."
These few words have reinforced our idea of not copying the original fragrances as is, despite their beauty. A perfume must be appreciated in the context of its time. Violet has always wanted to be modern, and for us the definition of modernity is to know how to draw on its past while adding its vision of the future.
We don't see Violet as a brand of the past, stuck in those glory years. We imagine it as if it had never disappeared.
The discovery of Tanagra in 2018 made us qualify the obvious "A perfume is appreciated with the nose". Indeed, the choice to integrate this fragrance into the Héritage range was first of all visual.
Released in the 1920s, Tanagra strikes with its singular bottle with a stopper representing, in a painted glass, a female silhouette of ancient Greece. Designed by Lucien Gaillard, this superb case perfectly represented the aesthetic genius of the Brand.
Symbol of visual beauty, Tanagra adds to the Héritage range the palpable, this inseparable dimension of the world of perfume. Violet was constantly inspired by the visible, raw and malleable world. And if René Lalique, Lucien Gaillard or even Auguste Rodin were friends of the House then their presence in the world of Violet was proof of a love of beautiful texture. Textures that only the greatest master glassmakers, goldsmiths or sculptors were able to offer.
Tanagra would therefore be this ode to inspiration and plastic beauty. This fragrant veil that you touch with your finger when feelings get involved. And how could a perfume touch us if it didn't have a physical dimension at its heart?
The Tanagra was a terracotta statuette from ancient Greece. This figurine, mostly female, was a tribute to beauty and delicacy.
The idea inspired us from the start and the composition of the perfume was thought out following this outpouring of ideas. The perfume, although unisex, was imagined as a celebration, an ode to women, to the beauty of bodies.
Image source: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/auctioneer/1015/perfume-bottles-auction/
We called on three muses. With freesia, symbol of tenderness, jasmine for purity and rose, queen of beauty. These materials, rich in symbolism, are the messengers that transcend the will of the perfume.
The Tanagra scabbard illustrates an aerial dance. The petals, natural veils, fill with air under the effect of the composition. Silks flying with the winds, they bulge, waver, undulate and recall for a moment the drapery of these eternal figurines.
By developing Tanagra, with such strong symbolism, we wanted to be actors in a cause greater than ourselves. Concretize what this perfume illustrates.
This is why Tanagra supports women. 20% of the profits from the perfume are donated to the Solidarité Femmes association.
This little word found in the box of the historic bottle inspired us to continue the story of Violet and participate in today's issues. Sometimes the little finds make the best stories.
