RARE Antique Perfume Bottle Discovered on New Jersey Beach
It’s not every day you stumble across a piece of forgotten beauty history while walking along the Jersey Shore — but that’s exactly what happened to one beachgoer during a stroll at low tide in Ocean City, New Jersey.
Jenny Altman Harris was at the southern tip of the island, just before Corson’s Inlet, when something caught her eye glimmering in the sand.
RARE Antique Perfume Bottle Discovered on New Jersey Beach
“I was walking along the surf at low tide, and when I approached it, I couldn’t believe my eyes,” she told us. “I picked it up and was surprised it was still intact. A woman passing by from the other way saw what I had found, asked if she could hold it, and she was as excited as I was.”
What she found was a beautifully ornate glass bottle — completely intact despite being partially buried in the sand and likely exposed to years of tides and weather. The stopper was still in place, the glass unbroken, and the sun highlighted its vintage elegance.
Later that day, curiosity led her to do a Google image search. That’s when the story behind the mystery bottle started to unfold: the bottle was identified as a La Bohème perfume bottle, a collector’s piece known for its exquisite Art Deco design.
The bottle, titled “La Bohème,” was designed by Maurice Dépinoix (French, 19th/early 20th century) for the perfume house Arly Paris, circa 1915.
The clear and frosted glass flacon is shaped in the form of a stylized eye, featuring intricate detailing and a frosted gray patinated boss stopper.
The bottle stands approximately 3¾ inches tall and is regarded today as a rare and valuable collectible in the world of vintage perfume design.
La Bohème bottles are prized not only for their craftsmanship but also as reflections of early 20th-century European luxury. The combination of clear and frosted glass, along with its symbolic design, embodies the spirit of the Art Deco movement that was just beginning to influence art and fashion at the time.
A similar La Bohéme bottle, along with two other early 1900s bottles, sold back in 2016 on invaluable.com. Together, they were estimated to be worth $200 to $400, which means this find is quite valuable.
Harris has been collecting sea glass for over 20 years to use in her artwork. She creates personalized Beach glass shadowboxes, as well as as acrylic paintings at designzbyjenny.com/ (Facebook it’s Designz by Jenny)
It was fate that allowed her on this walk to find this beautiful bottle.
While it’s still unclear exactly how the bottle ended up buried in the sand on the southern end of Ocean City, its discovery has sparked intrigue and a sense of wonder.
“It felt like a little treasure,” she said.
Whether lost long ago or washed ashore from elsewhere, the bottle now serves as a reminder of how history — and a little magic — can still wash up on our shores.