This remarkable 1937 press photograph captures a glamorous moment at a cocktail party held at New York's famed Pierre Hotel, where Mrs. William O'Donnell Iselin, a prominent New York socialite, is presented with an extraordinary gift by celebrated stage and screen actress Gertrude Lawrence. The gift was no ordinary perfume bottle, but the sole existing bottle of Prince Matchabelli's Infanta perfume, valued at an astonishing $750—a staggering sum during the depths of the Great Depression. Contemporary reports described it as the most expensive perfume bottle in the world and emphasized that only one had ever been made.
What immediately commands attention in the photograph is the astonishing scale of the bottle itself. Unlike the familiar Prince Matchabelli crown bottles sold to the public, this presentation piece appears gigantic, dwarfing the hands of the child holding it. The bottle was fashioned in the company's iconic crown form, inspired by the coronation crowns of Russian royalty, but enlarged into a spectacular display object intended to generate publicity and embody the luxurious image of the Prince Matchabelli brand. The crown-shaped flacon, adorned with lavish gilded details, would have glittered dramatically under the ballroom lights, making it an irresistible centerpiece for newspaper photographers.
The presentation also reflected Prince Matchabelli's mastery of promotional spectacle. During the 1930s, the company frequently linked its perfumes with society events, celebrities, and themes of aristocratic glamour. By selecting Gertrude Lawrence—one of the era's most beloved actresses—to present the unique bottle to Mrs. Iselin, the company combined Broadway celebrity, high society, and luxury perfumery into a single newsworthy event. The resulting photograph served not only as a society-page curiosity but also as an advertisement for the exclusivity and prestige associated with the Matchabelli name.
From a collector's standpoint, the image is particularly fascinating because it documents a perfume bottle that was never intended for commercial sale. While ordinary Prince Matchabelli crown bottles are well known to perfume historians and collectors today, this oversized Infanta presentation bottle was a unique creation. Its immense size and ceremonial presentation underscore the lengths to which luxury perfume houses would go during the interwar period to attract public attention and reinforce their image of elegance, extravagance, and royal romance. The photograph remains one of the most striking visual records of perfume promotion in the 1930s, illustrating both the theatrical flair of Prince Matchabelli and the enduring appeal of oversized display bottles in perfumery history.
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| image colorized and enhanced by Grace Hummel/Cleopatra's Boudoir. |
