There are two perfume bottles in Colonel Race’s cabin. Despite the ribbons in different colours, I think they are the same bottle – Penhaligon’s Hammam Bouquet.
The woody floral perfume was created in 1872 by William Penhaligon, who found inspiration in the Turkish baths located in Jermyn Street, London.
The bottle above has the old packaging, the Turkish star and crescent design being a nod to its main inspiration.
Linnet Ridgeway’s bedroom/boudoir is lavishly furnished in white and decorated with colorful glass, mirrors and marble. Several French perfumes are sitting on her vanity, a natural extension of her flawless style.
The first bottle that has caught my attention is the Lanvin boule on the left. It’s unclear what perfume it contained, because the French maison used the same bottle for two different perfumes, Arpege (created by Andre Fraysse in 1927) and My Sin (called Mon Péché in French, created by the mysterious Madame Zed in 1924). The film is set in the 1930s, so it’s plausible for both to sit on that vanity.
The same thing can be said for the black bottle on the right, containing Lanvin talcum powder. It could be Arpege or My Sin.
The Guerlain chauve souris bottle unmistakably contained Shalimar, created by Jacques Guerlain in 1925.
Guerlain Liu black flacon tabatiere with gold accents is in tune with the Art Deco vibe in Linnet’s bedroom. The perfume was created by Jacques Guerlain in 1929.
Thanks to Karen Hatch for the id.
I wonder if Monsieur Poirot (Peter Ustinov) noticed the massive Guerlain flacon montre sitting on a shelf in Linnet Ridgeway’s bathroom, while inspecting the heiress’ cabin on the Karnak steamer. Too bad the front sticker was scratched out: we will never know what cologne she used.
Using a flacon montre here is not 100% accurate: if we assume the novel is set before 1937 (year in which it was published), the choice is not accurate because this bottle was introduced on the same year. In any case, this is another example of “partial inconsistency:” this bottle was not available at the time in which the story was set, but it was at the time in which the film was shot.
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