Rigaud

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The French company Rigaud was founded by Jean-Baptiste Rigaud. Jean-Baptiste François Rigaud, born in Riom in 1829, left his native Auvergne in 1852 and settled in Paris, where he is said to have initially been an employee and possibly also a business partner in a small medical company called "Grimault et Cie". Some time later, Jean-Baptiste Rigaud produced his first perfumes at the same former Parisian address "Rue Richelieu 45" and marketed them under his own name.

Jean-Baptiste Rigaud combined his enthusiasm for perfume with business acumen. In the 1860s, he named his boutique at "Rue Vivienne 8" "Parfumerie Victoria - Rigaud & Cie." in homage to the Queen of England and is said to have taken advantage of a trend in the Parisian fashion world towards English products with this choice of name. In keeping with this, he created perfumes with English names such as "Bouquet de Victoria", "Jockey Club" and "Kiss me quick!".

Jean-Baptiste achieved further success by using exotic and then rarely used plants such as Ylang-Ylang Extrait in 1866 or the Japanese Kananga flower in his "Eau de Kananga" from 1869, which is said to have become successful in Europe and the United States.

When Jean-Baptiste Rigaud died in 1898, his inheritance passed to his widow and their son Henri Rigaud. The surviving wife took over the management of the Rigaud perfumery and renamed it "V. Rigaud" as an abbreviation for "Veuve Rigaud", the French equivalent of "Widow Rigaud". She is said to have founded a luxurious salon in the prestigious Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré as well as the American subsidiary "Rigaud & Chapelle" at 75 Barrow Street in New York City.

Further successful perfumes, such as "Camia" from 1906, which Alexandra of Denmark, then Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India, is said to have enjoyed using, came from the hands and skills of his son Henri. Henri Rigaud took over the management of the company in 1910, renamed his house simply "Rigaud" and developed a range of perfumes also for the Middle East and Asian markets.

Henri Rigaud celebrated great success with "Un Air Embaumé", which is said to have been the best-selling perfume of the house in the 1920s and 1930s. Created in 1914, the perfume is regarded by the House of Rigaud as Henri's masterpiece, which also inspired artists and poets. An "Un Air Embaumé" bottle re-designed by painter and object artist Marcel Duchamp with the support of Man Ray in the spring of 1921 was sold at Christie's in Paris in 2009 for 11.5 million US dollars. Duchamp's work is one of his so-called "readymades", revered in art circles, and bears the name "Belle Haleine, Eau de voilette".

After the First World War, Henri Rigaud took the company public. During the 1920s, growing competition and legal disputes led to more difficult times for the company. After Henri Rigaud's death in November 1930, the guardian of Henri's children, Gustave Delage, was entrusted with the management of the company.

After the Second World War, Mario Rigaud and his wife Viviane, members of the third generation of the family, took over the reins of the House of Rigaud. Their innovative products lie outside the sphere of Parfumo, as Rigaud's core business since the 1960s has been home fragrances and, today, scented candles.

[The text has been machine translated. Suggestions for corrections are welcome.]