1946 Salvador Dali design, produced by Baccarat (no 798) for Elsa Schiaparelli Le Roy Soleil (The Sun King) clear crystal perfume bottle representing a calm sea, with enameled blue waves and gilded rocks, the large stopper cover formed as a radiating sun, gilded front and reverse, the pensive facial expression made up of enameled black swallows, the inner stopper offers a surprise when removed as its large dauber is revealed to be another gilded ray of the sun. Bottle marked Baccarat. The elaborate drop-front box of gilt metal and wood shaped as a clam shell with ivory colored silk lining, velvet edged bottle shelf, and gold foil label on blue taffeta ribbons. 7 in. *Commonly referred to as "The Royal Sun," this presentation celebrated the Allied victory in Europe in World War II. Named after Louis XIV, the "Sun King," it harkened back to a glorious era in French history. The birds have been mistaken as seagulls, but in fact Schiaparelli chose swallows to symbolize positive change and a brighter future for France. The original hand written order, dated 1945 in the Baccarat archives, shows a request of 2,000 bottles.The Duchess of Windsor having been one of the first to receive one, wrote to Schiaparelli: "It is really the most beautiful bottle ever made, and the Roy Soleil is a very lasting and sweet gentleman. I cannot tell you how I appreciate your giving me such a handsome present which has displaced the Duke's photograph on the coiffeuse!" Schiaparelli wrote in her autobiography that it was "...too expensive and too sophisticated for the general public, but...not destined to die."