Лако-красочные материалы — производство

The rejection of monarchy, fuelled by an English Civil War earlier (1642-1651) grew apace in the revolutions of North America (1775— 1783) and France (1785-1799), leading to fundamentally new politics and world order.

Meantime, a quieter revolution was occurring, as apothecaries, spicerers and chemists began to develop professionally a new trade, that of perfumery. In 1708, Charles Lilly, a London perfumer, introduced scented snuffs and a revolutionary fragrance consisting of orange flower, musk, civet, violet and amber, whilst in 1711 William Bayley opened a perfumery in Long Acre, moving later to Cockspur Street under the sign of ‘Ye Olde Civet Cat’. Juan Floris (1730) and William Yardley (1770) added to the groundswell, matched in France by Houbigant (1774) and Lubin (1798).

These half-dozen perfumers catalysed the marketplace, expanding their clientele to commonfolk in such a way that George III (1738— 1820) became concerned enough to issue the following edict:

All women whether of rank or professional degree, whether virgins, maids or widows, that shall from after this Act impose upon, seduce and betray into matrimony any of his majesty’s subjects by the use of scents, potions, cosmetics, washes, artificial teeth, false hair, Spanish wool, iron stays, hoops, high heels, shoes or bolstered hips, shall incur the penalty of the law now in force against witchcraft and like misdemeanors, and that the marraige, upon conviction, shall be null and void.

Two famous compounded fragrances, La Poudre de Marechale (1670) and Eau de Cologne (1710), grew in popularity, marking a slight move in preference from the heavy animalic scents of the times, but with pox and pestilence to counter, aromas of all descriptions were slapped on, sprinkled over and carried in nosegays. Houses were refreshed using pomanders, potpourris, and cassoulets. The churches frowned and Oliver Cromwell did his best to put a stamp on the use of fragrances, but the eighteenth century saw a fragrance backlash of mighty propor­tions.

Fragrances were needed in profusion to combat the olfactory disaster zones of prisons, hospitals, ships, churches, theatres, work­shops and, indeed, anywhere where there was a gathering of humming humanity. Major cities sported ooze-smelling rivers, malignant vapours and rank-smelling fogs from industry. Dyers, tanners, butch­ers and various artisans added to the smoke, coal, sulfur and fetid aromas in the air, and the environment was further fouled by the lax sanitary conditions of the time.

Balsams and light florals were in with a vengeance, with rose, violet and lavender leading the way. The Elizabethan ‘effluvia’ maskers were on their way out, and, after 300 years, not before their time. Like Casanova, European gentry had palled to the smells which evoked this comment from their distant ancestors: