Perfume's Cultural Currents: A Selection of Historical Moments (and Smells)
Just like works of visual art, fashion, or architecture, fragrance can be interpreted as material culture with specific historical contexts and enduring influence.
In this multi-sensory program, an illustrated lecture by fragrance historian Jessica Murphy will highlight key moments from perfumery’s long past while we sample a selection of related fragrant materials. How long have people been blending and using aromatic mixtures, and why did they start doing it? How did France become known as the center of Western perfumery? What made some perfumes “modern” in the late nineteenth century? After considering these questions and some other connections between scent and cultural history, we’ll also smell present-day fragrances that use these long-valued materials.
The session will begin with a brief presentation on related library resources by Policy and International Affairs Librarian Brittany Norwood.
- Date:
- Monday, September 21, 2026
- Time:
- 5:00pm - 6:00pm
- Location:
- Commons Library Curiosity Studio
- Campus:
- Commons Library
- Audience:
- Princeton Faculty/Researcher Princeton Graduate Students Princeton Staff Princeton Student Princeton Undergraduate Students
- Categories:
- Events
Jessica Murphy is a museum professional and fragrance historian whose work connects art, scent, and popular culture. She holds a Ph.D. in art history and has worked at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art. As Manager of Visitor Engagement at the Brooklyn Museum, she created a series of scented gallery tours from 2019 to 2025. She has lectured about fragrance at venues including the Bard Graduate Center, the Corning Museum of Glass, the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, and the Institute for Art and Olfaction. She can be followed on Substack at Show & Smell.
The Commons Library sits between Briger Hall and the new Bioengineering Building. Enter on the first floor on Ivy Lane across from the football stadium or through Briger Hall’s first floor. You can also enter on the second floor from Roper Lane. Find us on the campus map.
The Curiosity Studio is an open presentation space inside the Commons Library’s second floor.
To request disability-related accommodations for this event, please contact pulcomm@princeton.edu at least 3 working days in advance.