Lightyears Collection
Muguet
Coty
(1910)

Click on image to enlarge Muguet perfume, composed by François Coty

Le Muguet (1910) was one of Coty's early fragrances, created by the master himself while his business was on the rise.

Today we might describe Muguet as "simple" and "pleasant" but in its day, its clean simplicity helped set it apart from the competition. Even today an older bottle of Muguet is a great find, not just as a "collector item" but as a to-be-used perfume.

Compared to today's multiplicity of short lived fragrances, Muguet had a long lifespan. Fifteen years after it had joined the Coty family of fragrances, Coty was still spending major dollars to advertise it. His line being that it was "for the woman of sunny, joyous type." Indeed, its light green coloring suggests just that.

In 1942, eight years after François Coty's death, the company's new perfumer, Henri Robert, extended the muguet concept to create Muguet de Bois, a fragrance that is much better known today than Coty's original.

Early bottles for Coty's fragrances were designed by Rene Lalique. When Coty ended his exclusive relationship with Lalique, he continued to use Lalique's designs, or designs quite similar to what Lalique had given him. Lalique's influence can be seen on this bottle of Muguet, particularly in the glass stopper. The same bottle, used for a number of Coty fragrances, and was produced in several different sizes.

The seemingly abstract design of the box at the left, like many Coty boxes, conceals that name "Coty" within its design, although you may have difficulty finding it!