Victorian French gold perfume bottle with turquoise lattice, circa 1860

Victorian, circa 1860, a French 18K gold perfume bottle cased in an openwork gold lattice, each junction set with a cabochon turquoise. A hinged turban cap lends an Ottoman inspired accent, in step with the Orientalist taste fashionable in Paris, in painting, dress, and the decorative arts, including the harem scenes of Ingres and Delacroix. Turquoise was named for its Turkish route into Europe, a link that suits the turban form rather well. The perfume aperture retains its removable gold applicator stopper for discreet dabbing behind the ears, an oddly intimate object that still suggests scent, skin, and a private ritual.