Guerlain Perfumes: Flacon Carre Bas de Forme (Low Square Form) c1880-1939

Sunday, August 31, 2025

Flacon Carre Bas de Forme (Low Square Form) c1880-1939

The Flacon Carré Bas de Forme (Low Square Form), also known as the “square short bottle,” was produced by Pochet et du Courval from around 1880 to 1939. Designed to house Guerlain’s eaux de toilette, eaux de cologne, and Lotion Végétale, this bottle exemplifies the practical elegance of late 19th- and early 20th-century perfumery. Its squat, square silhouette offered stability and a compact presence on the dressing table, while maintaining a refined geometric form that reflected the apothecary-inspired aesthetic common to the era. The low square proportions made it distinct from the taller Flacon Carré, offering both variety and functional efficiency for Guerlain’s diverse fragrance offerings.

Four molds were produced for this bottle, some featuring the engraved motif “femme drapeaux” on the reverse, a decorative detail that added subtle ornamentation and brand identity. Over its decades of production, the Flacon Carré Bas de Forme was fitted with a variety of glass stoppers to suit both aesthetic and practical needs. These included truncated (cut-off) stoppers, flat disk (disc) stoppers, and rounded ball (boule) stoppers. Notably, the larger sizes of 16.9 oz and 1-liter bottles, introduced in 1924, commonly featured the ball stoppers, emphasizing a balanced and proportionate design.

The bottle’s long production run ended in 1939 when the molds were destroyed, marking the conclusion of an era for this practical yet elegantly restrained design. The Flacon Carré Bas de Forme remains an important part of Guerlain’s historical output, illustrating the house’s ability to create bottles that combined functional durability with aesthetic refinement. Its clean lines, variety of stoppers, and subtle decorative touches make it a compelling example of Guerlain’s attention to both form and usability, bridging the practical traditions of 19th-century perfume bottles with the stylistic developments of the early 20th century.