Cecille's Creativity

There's a museum in Italy that gives you a visual tour of the history of perfumes. And a whiff of the world's best classic perfumes favored by royalty. We followed our noses to reach the Rance Perfume Museum at Via Lombardini in Milan.

There are many things you discover in this perfume museum. Did you know for intance tat: It was Napoloen Bonaparte who decreed that a perfume's formula and ingredients should be written on every bottle of perfume.

It was glovemaker Louis Rance, the founder of the Rance perfume dynasty, who popularized perfumed gloves in the first half of the 17th century. His factory in Grasse, France was the favorite of French aristocracy.

Napoleon's victories were celebrated by perfumer Francois Rance in the 17th century with the creation of scents marking every victorious battle. Napoleon's favorite perfume brand was Rance.

In the olden days, perfume was used as a weapon. All you had to do was spray perfumed poison on the outer part of a glove and shake your victim's bare hand. Hence, a new rule of etiquette was declared: Remove your gloves before shaking hands!

Jeanne Sandra Rance, the elegant 11th generation heiress of the Rance family of perfumes, took us on a tour of this museum, together with her handsome husband, Felice D'Elia, a chemical engineer. Together, they have preserved the old formulas, all handwritten on paper, that go into Rance best-selling perfumes.

But of course, certain practical innovations have been made since 1795 - the year Rance was founded in Grasse, France - to make use of high-tech production techniques to improve every product as well as its packaging.

"But please take note," Jeanne Sandra proudly state, "we have retainec the same classic logo design that was used by my forefathers." Amid all the modern logo designs of perfumes on the market today, Rance stands out like a refreshing, genteel princess.

"Holding a bottle of Rance perfume is like holding history in a bottle," says the couple's tall, good-looking son Giovanni D'Elia Rance, who explains that today's young generation finds that cool. Young people today are finding inspiration in history and the rich elegance of those days when quality, not quantity, mattered most.

Jeanne Sandra lives a perfumed existence, literally. Her father, Maurice Rance (1907-1982) taught her how to smell, an how to distinguish one scent brand from another, and to amalyze each scent in terms of ingredients.

Having inherited a historic brand, she has zealously acted as guardian of an original heritage of formulas, paraphernalia and machinery that are now treasured at this private museum in Milan.

The Rance perfume dynasty began with Louis Tance whose workshop in Grasse, France was the favorite of French royalty and nobility. Upon his death in 1645, three generations of glovemakers (from 1682 to 1782) were led by Antoine, Jacqus and Jean Francois. Jean Francois was the first to become both glovemaker and perfurmer, and his two sons decided to concentrate on the perfume business.

Alexandre (1743-1815) moved to paris to study modern perfumery, while Francois (1731-1808) stayed at his father's factory in Grasse to expand into making eau de colognes, flower waters, essences, ointments, beauty creams and air fresheners, all in delicate fashioned boxes made of precious materials. It was in 1795 when Francois officially started Rance as a perfume brand.