Bosquet d’Apollon by Rosine c1922

 Bosquet d’Apollon by Rosine, launched in 1922, is a fragrance that transports the wearer into the manicured splendor of the French Baroque — specifically, into the mythical and meticulously designed gardens of Versailles. The name, Bosquet d’Apollon (pronounced boh-SKAY dah-poh-LOHN), translates to "The Grove of Apollo" in French, referencing one of the most famous garden features at the Palace of Versailles. The Apollo Grove was commissioned by Louis XIV, the Sun King, who identified with the god Apollo as a symbol of art, light, and order. By naming this perfume after such a landmark, Poiret paid tribute not only to classical mythology but also to a golden age of French refinement and spectacle.

Poiret, deeply fascinated by the grandeur and extravagance of the Ancien Régime, often referenced 18th-century aesthetics in his designs, and Bosquet d’Apollon was an olfactory extension of this fascination. In the early 1920s — a period known as Les Années Folles (the "crazy years"), a French parallel to the Roaring Twenties — women were reclaiming social freedom through fashion, art, and fragrance. While many fragrances of the time leaned into heavy orientals or powdery florals, Bosquet d’Apollon distinguished itself with its verdant freshness, echoing the post-rain clarity and lushness of Versailles’ royal gardens. It conjured not an opulent ballroom, but rather the serene, dew-soaked pathways where nobility might stroll after a summer rain.

The scent was described evocatively: “all the foliage, the verdure there, after a rain, the scent that comes from the grass and the leaves as you crush them underfoot in walking.” This aromatic experience would have deeply resonated with women of the era who, having emerged from the restrictions of wartime, embraced scents that mirrored both natural beauty and personal liberation. Bosquet d’Apollon shared thematic company with Guerlain’s 1906 Après L’Ondée—a quiet, powdery meditation on rain-drenched violets and heliotrope—but the Rosine fragrance was greener, brighter, more of the earth than of melancholy.

Poiret’s choice of this name reveals his intention to create not just a perfume, but a courtly fantasy — one that blended mythology, art, and history with the raw, living essence of nature. For his fashionable clientele, Bosquet d’Apollon offered a wearable escape into a carefully cultivated past, a romantic vision of Versailles bottled in scent. In the context of 1920s perfumery, it was both nostalgic and avant-garde: a modern interpretation of classic ideals through the fresh, crushed-green clarity of a grove consecrated to the god of light.

 

Fragrance Composition:

So what does it smell like? Bosquet d’Apollon by Rosine is classified as a green floral fragrance for women. It was described as possessing "all the foliage, the verdure there, after a rain, the scent that comes from the grass and the leaves as you crush them underfoot in walking." Guerlain had previously explored this theme with their classic 1906 perfume Apres L'Ondee, a powdery floral fragrance with spicy and musk notes still loved by many today.  

• Top notes: aldehyde C-6, aldehyde C-8, aldehyde C-10, green leafy note accord (cis-3-Hexenol), Calabrian bergamot, Paraguayan petitgrain, Persian galbanum, Provencal lavender, Jordanian almond, laurel leaf, cyclamen aldehyde
• Middle notes: Alpine lily of the valley, hydroxycitronellal, Bulgarian rose, Riviera jasmine, Grasse heliotrope, Tunisian orange blossom, Tuscan violet, ionone, Florentine orris, bouvardia absolute
• Base notes: myrtle, Mysore sandalwood, Balkans oakmoss, Tibetan musk, muks ketone, Java vetiver, tonka bean, coumarin, ambergris, Mexican vanilla, vanillin, Indonesian patchouli

 

Scent Profile:

Opening the bottle of Bosquet d’Apollon by Rosine is like stepping into the Versailles gardens after a spring rain, when the air is heavy with moisture and greenery glistens beneath the filtered sun. The fragrance opens with a vivid burst of green, led by the crisp, almost startling clarity of aldehydes C-6, C-8, and C-10. These lend a soapy, airy lift that evokes clean linen hanging in a garden. C-6 (hexanal) adds the scent of freshly snapped stems; C-8 (octanal) brings a citrusy creaminess; while C-10 (decanal) imparts a waxy, floral-citrus nuance that smooths the top into refinement. Immediately following is cis-3-Hexenol, a powerful natural-smelling green alcohol that smells of crushed leaves, new shoots, and the dew-drenched grass underfoot — sharp, alive, and full of vitality.

This green accord is softened by Calabrian bergamot, sunlit and tart, balancing the verdancy with a sparkling citrus note. Paraguayan petitgrain, distilled from the bitter orange tree’s twigs and leaves, adds a woody-green bitterness that pairs beautifully with the resinous, sharp depth of Persian galbanum, which smells like torn roots and sticky sap. Provencal lavender—bright and slightly herbal—joins with Jordanian almond, offering a faintly nutty sweetness that rounds the sharper greens. The breeze turns aromatic with the camphorous edge of laurel leaf, while cyclamen aldehyde, a soft watery floral molecule, introduces a cool, ozonic freshness — mimicking the scent of air just after rain.

The heart of the fragrance blossoms with an elegant floral chorus. Alpine lily of the valley, pure and innocent, dances alongside hydroxycitronellal, a synthetic compound that amplifies muguet’s tender, dewy character. Bulgarian rose adds a robust, honeyed richness with a slight peppery bite, while Riviera jasmine introduces a heady, nectarous creaminess. Grasse heliotrope lends a soft, powdery almond facet with hints of vanilla and marzipan. Tunisian orange blossom brings brightness and floral warmth, edged with green citrusy facets.

Delicacy comes from the Tuscan violet, sweet and powdery, which pairs gracefully with ionone, a synthetic note derived from orris root that conjures cool violet petals and soft, wooded tones. Florentine orris, one of the most luxurious and expensive ingredients in perfumery, deepens the composition with a buttery, slightly dry earthiness. Bouvardia absolute, a rarely used and complex floral, adds narcotic depth and slight greenness, helping to maintain the composition’s botanical authenticity.

The base of Bosquet d’Apollon evokes the forest floor and the ancient stone paths of Versailles, damp and dappled with light. Myrtle, with its clean, resinous aroma, joins Java vetiver, whose smoky, rooty sharpness suggests the grounding scent of soil and rain-washed roots. Balkans oakmoss adds the iconic chypre signature — dark, mossy, and wet — while Mysore sandalwood, creamy and spicy, brings warmth and structure. The sensuality of Tibetan musk and musk ketone add a delicate, skin-like softness, binding the composition with understated sensuality.

Subtle sweetness emerges from tonka bean and coumarin, their hay-like, nutty notes whispering of sun-dried leaves. Mexican vanilla and vanillin imbue the fragrance with a rich, comforting base that feels both plush and antique, while ambergris, once the treasure of kings, lends its oceanic, musky glow. Finally, Indonesian patchouli brings a grounding earthy aroma, slightly camphoraceous and musty, like damp bark and loam.

Together, these ingredients create a fragrance that feels at once noble and untouched, echoing the lushness of the royal gardens it was inspired by. It is green, but not sharp; floral, but not fragile; elegant, yet natural — a walk in the Bosquet d’Apollon with the rain still clinging to every leaf.

Bottles:

The bottle designed for Bosquet d’Apollon by Rosine was a striking fusion of classical elegance and royal symbolism, perfectly suited to the fragrance’s inspiration rooted in Versailles and the Sun King, Louis XIV. Tall and slender, the flacon took the form of a refined rectangular crystal flask—its clear, smooth walls allowing the golden-hued perfume within to shimmer like sunlight caught in glass. It was a bottle that suggested both purity and luxury, modern for its time in silhouette, yet unmistakably steeped in the aesthetics of classical antiquity.

Atop the flacon rested a finely crafted inner glass stopper, concealed beneath a resplendent gilded brass overcap. This cap was the visual and symbolic centerpiece of the presentation. Rendered in repoussé, the design featured the face of Apollo, the Greek god of the sun, light, music, and poetry—his serene expression surrounded by radiating solar beams. This motif was directly borrowed from the Salon d'Apollon at the Palace of Versailles, a room intimately associated with Louis XIV, the self-styled Roi Soleil, who adopted Apollo as his personal emblem. By incorporating this imagery, Paul Poiret drew a direct line from his perfume to the opulence, order, and magnificence of France’s golden age under the Sun King.

The bottle was housed in an equally lavish blue velvet case, lending a regal air of presentation that elevated the experience of the perfume to one of ceremony and reverence. The case was finished with a gilded tassel, which added a note of theatrical flair and softness—echoing Poiret’s signature love of dramatic luxury. This elegant box was not just a protective shell but part of the total aesthetic vision: a jewel box for a scent that celebrated divine light, aristocratic splendor, and the verdant groves of Versailles after the rain.

This same flacon design was also used for another Rosine perfume, Connais-tu le Pays?, demonstrating Poiret’s appreciation for visual continuity and the reuse of exquisite forms to express thematic variations. In the case of Bosquet d’Apollon, the bottle captured not just a fragrance but an entire worldview: one that embraced history, mythology, fashion, and nature in one harmonious, sunlit breath.

Fate of the Fragrance:

Bosquet d’Apollon, like many of the luxurious and imaginative creations of Les Parfums de Rosine, met its end in 1930 when the company ceased operations. The closure marked the end of an extraordinary chapter in perfume history, as Paul Poiret’s once-celebrated fragrance house succumbed to the financial pressures of the interwar period and changing tastes in fashion and fragrance. Though the scent itself faded from production, it had already earned its place among the most elegant and evocative perfumes of its era.

Evidence of Bosquet d’Apollon’s popularity and availability can be traced as late as 1929, where it appeared in official documentation, including a volume of the Official Journal: Body of the Provisional Government of Mexico. It was listed among a wide offering of Rosine perfumes still being exported and sold internationally, a testament to the brand’s global reach. The roster included iconic names such as Ambre de Venise, Aladin, Avenue du Bois, Chez Poiret, Chypre des Isles, Le Fruit Défendu, La Rose de Rosine, Nuit de Chine, and, of course, Le Bosquet d’Apollon, among many others. This shows that even in its final years, Rosine’s offerings remained diverse, sophisticated, and in demand.

Though the perfume was discontinued with the closure of the house, Bosquet d’Apollon remains remembered today by collectors and perfume historians for its verdant, rain-drenched character and its lyrical evocation of the groves of Versailles. Its design, presentation, and fragrance concept embodied the very ethos of Poiret’s vision—an immersive sensory world where fashion, art, history, and perfume converged.