Twin Perceptions: Color and Scent: Part Five: Gold

by: John Biebel

Why is there almost universal reverence for the color gold? Is it because of the almost automatic attachment we have to that rare and valued metal that shares its name? Does it stem from an ancient reverence we have for the power of the sun and the golden, life-giving light it produces? Many of perfume’s natural essences, when distilled, range in color from a clear liquid, to a dark amber, usually resting somewhere between in the coloration known to us as “gold." The art of perfume-making is often compared to the mystical and proto-scientific tradition of Alchemy, the collection of practices which pre-dates the modern Scientific Method, and is known today mostly by two of its primary functional goals: to create an elixir of youth, and to transmute base metals into gold. For our purposes, the metaphoric and the scientific meet in the perfumer’s laboratory, where natural elements are distilled down to their essence and fused with other molecules to create a liquid that may not be an alchemist’s elixir, but something quite close to that for the wearer.

When thinking about the color of gold, it almost necessitates an understanding about the color yellow. What is the difference between these two colors? Are they indeed two distinct colors? Gold, it could be said, is perceived in two ways by most eyes: first, as a deep shade of the color yellow, and second as a metallic surface that glitters in varying shades of yellow, white, brown and black, alternating in the light and creating deep chiaroscuro effects before our eyes.

Are these two perceptions of gold an innate response, or something we’ve learned?An interesting study on the perception of color and highlights as seen by infants was done at Chuo University in Tokyo in 2013. In the study, infants were shown objects colored yellow and green. At one point in their observation, the yellow objects where then given a characteristic sheen and gloss, as seen in objects colored metallic gold. The children looked longer at the gold objects than the green ones. Researcher Masami Yamaguchi says that there is much mystery about the hows and whys of human color perceptional preferences, but says that research supports the idea that “… the gold color may give people a sense of familiarity or peace of mind.” So without knowing exactly why, we do know that gold holds our attention longer, and that this is set at a fairly early age.

Wisteria Flower by Maruyama Ōkyo (1776)

Artists have long puzzled with the challenge of how to both depict the “sense” of gold in their work, and also how to actually use it. In Europe and the Far East, gold was often used as a backdrop for figures, both religious and contemplative. In these cases, gold leaf (gold which has been pounded into delicately thin sheets) is laid onto wood or paper to give the illusion of a solid gold surface. The thematic message behind such finery is complex, but always visually stunning. The simplicity created inWisteria by Maruyama Ōkyo (1776) is remarkable for its simultaneous sumptuousness and tasteful quietude.

Adele Bloch-Bauer I, Gustav Klimt (1907)

Though it defies any actual “realistic” representation, gold imparts the idea of splendor and elevation, deification and royalty. This tradition of using gold in artworks had a curious transformation in the Renaissance, when it moved out of paintings and onto the frames that surrounded them. Gilt became the clothes of architectural decoration, and by the 20th century, a gilded ceiling was de rigueur for theaters around the world. Using gold within artworks themselves had something of a revival during the Art Deco period, and is perhaps best known in the paintings of Austrian artist Gustav Klimt. But for much of history, artists have been most interested in depicting the effects of gold as seen by the human eye: the prismatic, mirrored sensation of light as it plays over the reflective surface of the metal.

Belshazzar’s Feast, (1635) Rembrandt

Fascinatingly, some of these works repeat religious themes, but in an entirely different way. Two such painters are Georges de La Tour and Rembrandt van Rijn. Although both painters’ work falls into the period known as Baroque, they each eschewed this categorization and chose instead to look at quiet spiritual scenes to evoke the senses. Their fascination with the depiction of gold, metal, light and reflection made their work uniquely memorable. Take for instance Rembrandt’s Belshazzar’s Feast, in which the Chaldean ruler’s gold robe glitters on his shoulders as he looks to see the “writing on the wall” revealed from the heavens. Then consider de La Tour’s masterpiece The Penitent Magdalene, a sensitive candlelit portrayal of the former sinner who contemplates her fate in front of a gold mirror. The layers of light, reflection, and meaning are intense. On the far right, one can see Magdalene’s jewelry lain aside as she reflects (literally and figuratively) on her past and future. Here, gold not only frames her face, but becomes the color of the light that illuminates it as well.

The Penitent Magdalene, (1625-1650) Georges de La Tour

Alchemy, gold, light, heat, reaction: One can’t help but feel that there was a great deal of thought put into the creation of the iconic fragrance Aromatics Elixir by Clinique. This now-classic chypre is alternately loved or rejected by wearers, but few would question its place as an important French-style perfume. Its power is sun-like in intensity, and glows a healthy lemony yellow or amber from its characteristic frosted glass bottle. Early depictions of Aromatics Elixir show the bottle photographed amongst glowing gold candles, emitting soft light as though from a sunset. This perfume fused the idea of distillation through science in a perfectly believable way, as though the elixir of youth had been yielded from transmutation of matter.

Aromatics Elixir is also one of the powerhouse perfumes of the 20th century that contain a feast of ingredients, and many flowers. While rose has been arguably the most important flower in perfumery, jasmine holds a very strong second place. Essential oil of jasmine comes in a range of colors, but it begins, after distillation or extraction, as a thick, golden brown substance, which turns to beautiful shades of gold and yellow through solvent or oil dilution. This oil is the basis of so many scents, and is used often to recreate the scent of flowers whose perfume eludes us. It’s no wonder that jasmine grows best in the warmest (and in some cases, steamiest) parts of the world: those that receive the lion’s share of the sun’s attention. Jasmine has many species; two are primarily cultivated now: Jasminum Sambac from South Asia, and Jasminum Grandiflorum, or Arabian jasmine. There are detectable differences among these jasmines even to a slightly trained nose, but they are all intensely floral, heady, and considered by many to be uplifting and peaceful; the object of inspiration. Jasmine, though in many ways a workhorse of perfumery, is also extremely costly and used in extremely minute quantities in contemporary mass marketed perfumes. Jasmine flowers are still handpicked, and must be processed quickly in order to extract their oil before the flowers begin to oxidize and brown. Still, the power of this ingredient can’t be underestimated—a small bit goes a very long way.

Some perfumes embody the spirit of golden jasmine exceedingly well: Some considerJean Patou’s Joy one of the premium jasmine scents, as well as Chanel’s No. 5, No. 22 and Cuir de Russie. More contemporary jasmine-based scents that have received acclaim for their use of the flower are Ormande Jayne’s Sampaquita, and House of Matriarch’s Midnight. Both perfume houses are known for their use of natural elements and unusual combinations of materials, showcasing jasmine in sweet muskiness in the first case, and oud and yellow flowers in the second. Nasomatto’s Nuda andDonna Karan’s Essence Jasmine reveal lovely sides to jasmine as a soliflore, in all its stark but complex night-blooming beauty.

There are any number of perfume elements reminiscent of gold, which in turn summon images of the sun. This raises an interesting question about our actual perception of smell in relation to temperature. Do we smell a different palette of scents at different times of the year, based on climate or activity of the sun? Anecdotally, many people say this is so, and you hear it all around you in statements like “It smells like snow,” or “That reminds me of a summer day.”  Due to recent research, we now know that there is a distinct reason we categorize scents based on temperature. Pamela Dalton, a senior scientist at Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia says that our noses have been constructed to work best in warmer temperatures, and our efficiency in detecting smells in cold weather is significantly reduced. At the same time, the lower molecular activity that occurs in cold weather means that there is literally less to smell, so we detect less. Warm weather increases the available smells and our ability to smell them, and so our range of scents associated with warm temperatures broadens remarkably when the sun stays out longer.

And though we associate the color gold with so many scents and natural components (honey, sunflowers, wheat, citruses, narcissus, marigolds) gold as a metal has no detectable smell. In fact, many people who are suspicious of a gold metal’s integrity will be alerted by a “scent” coming from the metal. But perfumers know that gold has an allure unmatched by any other element. Roja Dove’s 2013 release Roja, an homage to classic floral chypre perfumery, was released beautifully trapped in a glass bottle swirling with flakes of gold leaf. The affect is a stunning kaleidoscopic snow dome of interplay between reflected light and clarity. Dove explains that the addition of gold leaf has an almost ironic meaning, as some of the ingredients of the perfume are much more rare and expensive than gold itself. The liquid is a luscious ambery yellow gold, a perfect color to accompany a composition of rose de mai, bergamot, oakmoss, vetiver, patchouli, orris root, vanilla, labdanum and styrax.

It was the search for gold (and religious conversion) that led the early European merchant-explorers in search of an Eastern treasure trove, and gold they did indeed find, in vast quantities. The ancient Americas were decorated with some of the most beautiful gold artifacts yet known to humankind. The transportation of these objects from continent to continent forever changed the world’s economic and cultural balance and gave rise to a new era of colonialism. So we can also surmise that gold, as with any substance of great value, is never without controversy. People want to own that which is rare and costly. On a much more humane scale, one sees a similar search for perfume gold on internet auction sites, as bottles of sealed Christian Dior Diroellla,Lanvin’s Arpège or Hermès’ Calèche are sought after with a zeal much like those of early explorers. For some, it may be a return to an age of perfumery before the market expanded as greatly as it has in recent decades. And for others, it may be a comforting reach backward toward something of great quality and comfort; almost like a search for an elixir. Interestingly, many vintage perfumes take on a lovely golden hue as they age, reinforcing the metaphor even further.

The pantheon of perfume is filled with examples of yellow and golden hued wonders; and it’s probably no accident that this coloration has come to mean something “worthy." Nearly all substances found in nature that emit a complex golden color involve time as an element in their construction. Think of the time spent by hundreds of bees to create honey, the time required to mine the metal itself from the world’s open pit mines and river beds; precious oil extraction and enfleurage and in some cases its subsequent aging, the formation of prehistoric amber. Gold has associations of patience and the investment of time into efforts that will yield a substance of the highest quality, capturing an essence that time will only make greater.

Though this brings us to a close of our exploration of color and scent, we’ll take one last look at how visual cues change (or do not change) our perception of smell. Let’s look at a label-less scent experiment and see what exactly we perceive when