Ancient

Um, as much as I hate to pass along such a good deal, here's your chance:

As talked about on http://wandah.tumblr.com

Extremely rare bag in MINT condition…you’ll just die. Just D.I.E.

More than likely, this bag was a gift with purchase, but that has not been confirmed. But it is certain tha...moret this was made by Houbigant for some reason or another.

THE HISTORY OF HOUBIGANT:

Houbigant was a perfume manufacturer founded in Paris, France in 1775 by Jean-François Houbigant of Grasse (1752-1807), originally selling gloves, perfumes, and bridal bouquets. The original shop, called "A la Corbeille de Fleurs", was in the rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. Clients included Queen Marie-Antoinette of France; two French emperors; Princess Adélaïde d'Orléans (1829); Princess Dagmar of Denmark, wife of emperor Alexander III of Russia (1890); Madame Du Barry, mistress of King Louis XV of France; and Queen Victoria of England.

An Houbigant legend, not verified, has it that when Marie Antoinette was fleeing to Varennes to escape the French revolutionaries she was recognised as royalty because of her Houbigant perfume, which only royalty could afford[1].

Houbigant is one of the world's oldest perfumers. Older Houbigant perfumes and bottles are collectable. The company ceased to be independent in 1995, although the name Houbigant and the names of many of its products continue.

Amongst their fragrances are Lutece, Raffinee, Quelques Fleurs.

Houbigant Fougère Royale (1882) was the first perfume to use the synthetic coumarin, and is thus sometimes called the first modern perfume (although others give that honor to Guerlain Jicky). Quelques Fleurs, introduced in 1912, was “the first modern floral-bouquet perfume” (Scents of Time, p. 95). Both fragrances were discontinued in the 1950s, then relaunched in the 1980s. Fougère Royale is no longer made; Quelques Fleurs, along with the flanker Quelques Fleurs Royale, is now almost all that remains of the Houbigant prestige fragrance line (others include Houbigant Apercu, first released in 1925, and Duc de Vervins).

Other historical Houbigant fragrances that were originally introduced as prestige scents, such as Chantilly (1941) and Raffinee (1982), have long since been repositioned as mass-market fragrances.

Houbigant’s ownership is too complicated to relate in detail. The firm, or what was left of it, filed for bankruptcy in 1993, then was acquired (along with Dana) by Renaissance Cosmetics in 1994. Renaissance filed for Chapter 11 in 1999; its brands were acquired by New Dana Perfumes, later renamed Dana Classic Fragrances.