“Even if one just tastes it, at once arouses a humour throughout the body and has a very healthy aroma” – Pedanius Dioscorides, around year 70 BC.
Silphium (probably of the genus Ferula) was a plant that grew in the area of Cyrene, present day Libya, and was widely renowned as a spice, medicinal herb and perfume ingredient throughout the empires of the classical antiquity. It was praised by Greek philosophers and writers, as well as Roman emperors and cookbook authors.
There were many attempts to cultivate Silphium, but they inevitably failed. It would only grow wild in a limited area of the north African coast. This, in combination with its qualities as seasoning and medicine made Silphium the most valuable spice in the world, outshining both saffron and cinnamon. The demand for Silphium eventually became so overwhelming that it was harvested to extinction, and the taste and smell of the once greatest spice in the world were lost in time.
Our rendition of this historical plant is created by researching surviving assumed relatives of Silphium, using aromachemicals (the molecular building blocks of scents) to create an accord that we feel represents what descriptions remains. This is set against a background of ancient incense, woods and leather.
NOTES
Top: Silphium Accord, Cistus
Middle: Cinnamon, Tobacco, Black Pepper, Ginger, Geranium, Clove
Base: Frankincense, Myrrh, Cedarwood, Leather
HOW IT WEARS
Silphium begins with the peppery herbaceousness of geranium and the effervescent spicy bite of ginger. As it wears, sticky resinous tobacco infused with cinnamon, clover and black pepper appears, before the fragrance descends into its base notes. There, holy frankincense and myrrh are wrapped up in a leather pouch with freshly hewn cedar chips, making for a woody earthy dry down. This fragrance will last on the skin for 6-8 hours.
LORE LOVES
Silphium’s blend of spices and herbs paired with biblical frankincense and myrrh take us back to a time when the world’s largest religions were in their infancy, and folk/paganism was practiced alongside and within them. A time long ago forgotten, like the silphium spice. Excitingly elusive, this is an invigorating fragrance that will hasten your thirst for and pursuit of knowledge in all its forms.
ABOUT THE BRAND
Founded by a group of 5 multidisciplinary creatives in Stockholm, Sweden, Stora Skuggan (or “Big Shadow” in Swedish) is a fragrance house that enthrals and enchants with its esoteric scent creations.
Approaching fragrance as a form of abstract art, Stora Skuggan’s line invites a range of interpretations. Their fragrances function as wearable works of art; blending concept, aesthetic, form and function together to tell distinct olfactory stories.
Handcrafted in-house in the Stora Skuggan studios and labs, each scent revolves around its own mythology, taking inspiration from stories, images and sounds both real and imagined.
FREE RETURNS
Love your fragrance or return it for free. Learn more about The Lore Promise here.
