More than 100 porcelain perfume bottles from the 18th century are being offered for private sale in connection with the auctions of “The Giordano Collection” of Italian decorative arts pieces, scheduled to begin Nov. 26 at Sotheby’s in Paris.
“I’ve always liked fragrances in my personal life, wearing different ones according to my mood,” Gianni Giordano said in a recent phone interview, “but the collection began when I bought my first porcelain perfume bottle at auction. It was a heart-shaped one, and from there, I started researching and acquiring others.”
Mr. Giordano, part of a family in northern Italy that has been making wine since the 1900s, has spent the past 30 years collecting art, furniture and other items that now are to be sold during two events: the first, in Paris, and a 2025 sale in Milan. Private sales, including the perfume bottles, also are scheduled.
The heart-shape bottle, which Mr. Giordano said was both his first and his favorite piece, was produced in Nove di Bassano, near Venice, and he bought it in 2007 at a Sotheby’s sale in Milan. Its luminous pastels show a female figure reclining in a field on one side and Cupid holding a torch on the other.