The Gardiner Museum is open seven days a week! Explore our permanent collection, discover special exhibitions, and get hands-on with clay in our studios. We look forward to welcoming you.
Discover an installation of works by American artist Sharif Bey on now in our lobby. Bey's practice is influenced by African and Afro-diasporic aesthetic traditions, as well as ancient Andean ceramics and contemporary popular culture.
Summer will be here before you know it! Don't wait to sign up for the Gardiner's popular summer camps. New this year, all our week-long sessions are full-day multimedia camps, so kids can draw, paint, sculpt, and more.
Every object in our permanent collection can be accessed through our eMuseum portal. Learn about individual collecting areas, like Italian Maiolica or Modern and Contemporary Ceramics, or search the full collection by keyword. You'll be amazed by what you discover!
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The Gardiner Museum holds a unique collection of 107 scent bottles produced across Europe, with a particular focus on factories located around London where they were a specialty.
At a time when clean water was scarce and used sparingly, perfume was used to suggest cleanliness. Perfume was a symbol of luxury, a sign of rank and social distinction. In addition to being worn on the self, it was added to gloves, items of clothing, bed linens and cosmetics.
The Gardiner’s collection illustrates the range of playful forms that scent bottles espoused, including animals, flowers and figures of lovers. Some examples present multiple containers for different fragrances, small boxes to store beauty patches, mirrors under the base, and rich gold mounts that enhanced the value of the object. A staple of elegance, these little luxuries were appreciated by men and women, and were kept on a dressing table or in a pocket.
Scent bottles were a personal interest of Helen Gardiner who established the collection.
1. Exotic Bird (detail), England, London, St. Jame's Factory, c.1751-1754, Gift of George and Helen Gardiner, G83.1.1005
2. Exotic Bird (detail), England, London, St. Jame's Factory, c.1751-1754, Gift of George and Helen Gardiner, G83.1.1005
3. Wall Vase (detail), Austria, Du Paquier, c.1730, Gift of George and Helen Gardiner, G83.1.1220
4. Sunflower Dish (detail), England, London, c.1755, Gift of George and Helen Gardiner, G83.1.1108.1-2
5. Ewer and Basin (detail), France, Sèvres, c.1758, Gift of George and Helen Gardiner, G84.1.2
6. The Monkey Orchestra (detail), Germany, Dresden, Meissen, c.1753-1775, Gift of George and Helen Gardiner, G83.1.675.1-.18
7. Sugar Box with Armorial (detail), Italy, Doccia, c.1745-1750, Gift of George and Helen Gardiner, G83.1.1105
8. Gardener with Watering Can (detail), Switzerland, Zurich, c.1770, The Hans Syz Collection, G96.5.421
9. Chocolate Pot (detail), Denmark, Copenhagen, c.1775, Gift of George and Helen Gardiner, G83.1.1104
10. Scowling Harlequin (detail), Germany, Meissen, c.1738-40, Gift of George and Helen Gardiner, G83.1.907
11. Teapot (detail), Germany, Meissen, c.1730, decorated at Lauche, Gift of George and Helen Gardiner, G83.1.764