34
in Russia recorded a price of approximately US$16-22/g in 1997 for a shipment of musk from Russia to
Germany (Russian Customs Service Agents, in litt., 1998). Demand appears to continue to rise, but the
current financial and economic crisis in East Asia could reduce the future demand for musk.
Table 11
Prices for one gramme of musk at different stages of trade in early 1998
Source: TRAFFIC International (1994); Alexander Kulikov, pers. comm., December 1998; middlemen in
Germany and Switzerland, pers. comms, March 1998; perfume manufacturers in Germany, pers. comms,
April 1998 and Fomenko (in litt., 1997).
Manufacturers and companies in the perfume industry declared that perfume manufacturers buy musk at
up to US$50/g (manufacturers and perfume association personnel, pers. comms, 1998).
In the 1970s and 1980s, the market price for musk in China was very low by comparison with the price in
other countries (Green, 1989). In 1979, it stood at just US$3.86/g. In countries of the Himalayan region,
it reached US$15.38/g at the same time, and Japanese import statistics indicated that the price on the inter-
national market was around US$24/g for musk pod and US$45/g for granular musk (i.e. extracted contents
of musk pods) (Green, 1989). In India, the price was recently about US$22/g (Asadi, 1996).
THE USES OF MUSK
Use in the perfume and aromatic substance industry
Musk fragrance: historical use
As far back as prehistoric times perfume was probably used predominantly as a sacrificial offering to pay
homage to the gods. The very word “perfume”, from “per fumum”, indicates the activity of burning certain
drugs and fragrant resins (Pilz, 1997). Musk is known to have been used in medicine and as a fragrance
since 3500 BC. The musk scent was thought to have been used in the early civilisations of ancient China
and ancient India in ritual purposes (Pilz, 1997). Certainly, the range of fragrances in ancient China
extended from the powerful odour of musk to the gentle fragrance of rose water, the former perfume
assigned to the sphere of sensual desires, the latter an embodiment of the spiritual ideal. By the eighth
century AD, during the Tang dynasty in China, musk had become so fashionable that one minister had the
scent applied to the walls of his pavilion (Green and Taylor, 1986). Musk perfume was also known to the
Carthaginians and Phoenicians. In the tenth century AD musk was among the five most important compo-
nents of perfume of the contemporary Arab world. The Arabs brought musk to the Middle East where they
mixed the scent with mortar for use in the construction of mosques, for example at Kara Amed and Tabriz,
in Iran.
The first mention of musk in Europe is attributed to St. Jerome in the year 390 AD. The first written
reference, in which mention is made of boxes for storing musk, dates from 1398 and can today be found
in the British Museum in London. The use of musk is also known from the scent jars which, in the
Raw musk purchase source
Price in US$
Price increase per stage
From hunter in Russia
2-3
From middlemen in Russia
7-8
about 150%
From middlemen in Europe and South Korea
12-14 in 1997, up to 22
about 100% - 200%
For use in the European perfume industry
up to 50
over 200%
35
fifteenth century, were used in hospital rooms to combat epidemics like cholera and plague (Pilz, 1997).
In Tudor England, musk was added to sweetmeats and medicines in order to drive away melancholy and
by the nineteenth century courtesans in Paris carried bags of musk between their breasts in order to conceal
the body’s natural odour as well as to enhance it (Green and Taylor, 1986). In the Renaissance period,
Italy led the way in the manufacture of perfume, but later the main centre of manufacturing shifted to
France and, in particular, to the region around Grasse (Müller, 1991). Compared with other places in
Europe, the skilled art of perfume manufacturing was highly developed in the south of France, and Grasse,
situated close to Marseilles, occupies a location which at that time was favourable for the trade in oriental
merchandise such as musk.
Natural musk is prized for the intensity and
endurance of its aroma and for its fixative
properties. The generally low-strength alcoholic
infusions, matured over long periods, produced
from dried and pulverised musk glands, lend
themselves to the making of perfumes charac-
terised by the industry as having “warmth”,
“elegance” and “radiance” (Pilz, 1997). In the
manufacturing of aromatic substances, musk is
employed not only as a perfume but also as a
fixative for other fragrances (Perry, 1925, in
Green, 1989). It is to these dual properties that
musk owes its popularity in perfumes. Its rarity
and high price presented an incentive for
replacing natural musk with synthetic products
long before the conservation of musk deer species
became a concern. As early as 1759, nitration
experiments with amber oil produced musk-like
perfumes. Synthetically manufactured musk
compounds since then have succeeded in imitating
the characteristics of natural musk more and more
closely.
Musk in the present-day perfume industry of Europe
In Europe, there are well over 100 companies that operate in the perfume industry
.
The market is
becoming increasingly international and many companies operate throughout Europe or worldwide. By
virtue of long tradition, however, a particularly large number of these firms is based in France. In Grasse
alone, there are about 30 French and foreign companies working on the production of aromatic substances
(spokesman for perfume-producing company, pers. comm., May 1998). The boundaries between perfume
manufacturers working on the composition of perfume constituents and those creating and marketing the
end-product are fluid.
Because of the price and chemical structure of natural musk, the substance is used only in perfumes and
eaux de toilette with alcohol as a solvent, (spokesmen for perfumeries, pers. comm., April 1998). In
perfumed products such as cosmetics, personal hygiene preparations, shampoos, detergents, etc., only
synthetic musk is used, and never natural musk. Where natural musk is used, the perfume tinctures contain
between 0.5% and 5% musk in an alcohol solution, according to information from perfumeries and
manufacturers of perfume oils which incorporate the substance (spokesman for perfume-producing
company, pers. comm., April 1998). Such tinctures have to mature for a number of months, at least, before
they can be mixed in perfumes.
French glass perfume phial with enclosed cameo
- Baccarat, circa 1860
Cr
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