HEAVEN SCENT
Ilse Zietsman wafts into Franschhoek’s mesmerising perfume museum
Elizabeth Taylor famously declared, “I never face the day without perfume.” Coco Chanel opined, “No elegance is possible without perfume. It is the unseen, unforgettable ultimate accessory.” Daniela Kumanov, co-owner with husband Dimo of the First South African Perfume Museum, would undoubtedly agree. She is a fountain of knowledge on fragrances, perfume bottle designs, essential oils and the history of perfume, delivered with a cheeky sense of humour.
The museum — also a first in Africa — was established in 2012 in Cape Town by the Kumanov family. They are originally from Bulgaria, which lays claim to the world’s most expensive rose oil, mostly derived from the Rosa Damascena (Damask rose). Over 1,000 petals are needed to produce just 1g of oil.
Back in the 1700s, traders in rose oil often accepted perfume bottles and secret recipes as payment in lieu of money. Coming from a long line of rose-oiltraders, the Kumanovs first visited SA 32 years ago on honeymoon and soon thereafter settled here.
In 2018, the museum moved to Franschhoek as part of the Huguenot Memorial Museum. France is renowned for its perfume industry and, as the
French Huguenots settled in Franschhoek, it seemed a logical place for their museum with its priceless collection of perfume bottles, Daniela explains.
You may be surprised to learn, however, that it was the Italians who introduced perfume to France. The word perfume derives from the Latin perfumare, meaning “to smoke through” and its art stretches back to ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and possibly
Ancient China. In medieval times, Venice was the centre of European perfumery thanks to its role as a major trading place for spices and incense, and members of the royal family had their own personal perfumers.
In 1533 Catherine de Medici of
Florence married the man who would become King Henry II of France in 1547) and took her personal perfumer with her when she moved to France. Thus Catherine de Medici and her perfumer, Renato Bianco (later known as René le Florentin), introduced the French court to the secrets of perfume making. By the 1700s, King Louis XV’s court was known as la cour parfumée (the perfumed court); he insisted on a different fragrance for his apartment every day. It is said that Napoleon ordered two quarts of violet cologne every week and that he used 60 bottles of jasmine extract every month.
CRYSTAL STOPPERS
The museum’s collection of perfume bottles and accessories is one of the biggest in the world. There are Egyptian and Roman bottles more than 2,000 years old; the biggest KWV perfume-bottle collection in one place (in its early days, the winemaker commissioned perfume to be given away with its wines and spirits), and the Lalique crystal bottles and stoppers are truly magnificent.
The museum also offers workshops, through which you craft your own scent while sipping on champagne. And why not create your own as opposed to sticking stoically to a signature scent?
As Daniela points out, “We live in such exciting times today. In the perfume world the sky is the limit. New molecules are developed all the time. This makes it difficult — if not foolish — to stick to the same thing.”
As for applying perfume, she offers the following tips: dab a drop behind your hair and ears and on your wrists — the “warm places” of your body. Never do a “beauty spray” where you spray in the air and walk through— “It doesn’t work and it only looks good on TV!”
The museum is open Monday to Sunday, 9am-5pm. Adults R100, children R50. There are three perfume workshops on offer, priced from R520 to R750. By appointment only. See firstsouthafricanperfumemuseum.com or e-mail info@kumanovperfumery.com.