Bottle of custom made “Lena” perfume gift with drawstring bag and card: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A2011.1.1.1abc: A bottle of custom made “Lena” perfume gift with drawstring bag and gift card

A2011.1.1.1a: A 1.7oz bottle of “Lena” perfume. It is molded, clear glass with a silver metal cap. The bottle is trapezoidal in shape with a wider shoulder than base. The cap is tubular shaped and there is a band of clear residue at the bottom where it sits on the bottle's shoulder. Adhered to the front is a black label, rectangular in shape with rounded edges. Silver, art deco style text printed vertically down the center of the label reads [L / E / N / A]. A molded mark on the bottom of the bottle reads [C]. The bottle is mostly full of an amber colored perfume.

A2011.1.1.1b: A drawstring bag for a bottle of “Lena” perfume (A2011.1.1.1a:). The bag is constructed from two pieces of plain, black velvet and has a black drawstring at the top.

A2011.1.1.1a: A gift card for a bottle of “Lena” perfume (A2011.1.1.1a:). The small white card features the name of the perfume, [LENA], printed in gray text at the top center inside a thin, black, rectangular frame. Printed, centered, black text below reads [Perfume / 1.7 oz. 50ml / Ingredients / SDA 39C, Water, / Fragrance / Gift / Not for Resale / Distributed by / Avant New York, / NYC, NY 10016]. The back of the card is blank.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: after 1950
• Created by: Unidentified
• Manufactured by: Saint-Gobain Desjonquères, French, founded 1665
• Distributed by: Avant New York, American
• Subject of: Lena Horne, American, 1917 - 2010
• Type: perfume bottles
• Medium: A2011.1.1.1a: glass and metal with perfume
• Medium: A2011.1.1.1b: velvet with cord (fiber product)
• Medium: A2011.1.1.1c: ink on paper (fiber product)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (A2011.1.1.1a): 4 1/2 × 2 3/8 × 1 3/8 in. (11.5 × 6 × 3.5 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (A2011.1.1.1b): 7 3/16 × 4 15/16 × 9/16 in. (18.3 × 12.5 × 1.5 cm)
• Place used: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Place made: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Beauty culture
• Topic: Cosmetics
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Entertainers
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Object number: A2011.1.1.1abc
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Edouard E. Plummer
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: No known copyright restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.