Maria Amalia - A Secret Unveiled?

This is for Riannon *waving!* who, as an enabler extraordinaire, piqued my interest and created a lemming for this scent
On my skin, after an initial blast of what I perceived as vetiver even though it is not listed among the notes, Maria Amalia revealed a true dry and warm nature (no lemon peel or rose that Im aware of) and a never-ending drydown of myrrh with the slightest mushroom-like accent, and earthy, soft patchouli emphasizing precious wood notes. This is pure heaven for my nose! Now Im the proud owner of this magic potion and hope to shed some light on a perfume mystery. I was immediately captured by the scent, by the tale and felt a bond with this rebellious and wild womanromantic that I am

The Story
Maria Amalia Archduchess of Austria (1746-1804) was fair skinned with ice-blue eyes and purple red, long and wavy hair. At age 23 this rebellious daughter of Empress Maria Theresia of Austria married Ferdinand of Borbone, Duke of Parma, 5 years her junior. Regrettably, her marriage wasnt a happy one. Ferdinand was a weak-willed, rather clumsy young man and so, Maria Amalia quickly found her pleasure elsewhere. Soon, the Duchess of Parma decided to live on her own, in a hunting lodge in the middle of the beech woods. She loved to hunt, adored horses and had a weak spot for the young, strong men whom she hired as guards or who worked in the stables. Many are the adjectives used to define her: lively, fascinating, sensuous, rude, eccentric, spontaneous, unconventional. The story goes that in her quarters, besides many private letters revealing her passionate soul, a jewel box was found, containing a gorgeous crystal perfume bottle and an accurately hidden scrap of paper with a formula. Maria Amalias perfume? The scent inside the bottle was so alluring and peculiar that whoever discovered it thought it must have been Amalias perfume, and decided that modern perfume lovers like us should be given a chance to test and wear it. The booklet illustrating the scent itself and a bit of Maria Amalias story shows a few paintings of John Waterhouse, a Pre-Raphaelite movement artist (I initially mistook the paintings for Dante Gabriel Rossettis, but these delicate females do not have Rossettis typical, awfully strong jawline!). You can google Waterhouses two paintings The Soul of the Rose (for an imaginary Maria Amalia) and Psyche opening the Golden Box (reminiscent of Amalias jewel case) to get an idea.

The Perfume
This beauty comes as an EdP concentré (urn-like crystal splash bottle), as an EdP (pressed glass spray bottle, same form) and as a parfum extrait as a limited edition numbered hand-made crystal flacon in a striking blue casket (similar to the one you may see in Psyche opening the Golden Box).

Head notes: Cardamom balsam, lemon peel, ginger roots
Heart notes: May rose, cinnamon leaves, nutmeg powder
Base notes: Myrrh and incense, rosewood and patchouli.

Maria Amalia is produced and distributed by Morris, an Italian branch of Schwarzkopf/Henkel (but please dont let this reference destroy the romantic story of the perfume, LOL).
As a side note, Im happy I had the chance to discover the British Box store in Milan the owner is a delightful and very knowledgeable person with a true passion for perfume. Be sure to visit if you pass by

Thank you all (blushes)!
As you know, this particular lemming of mine already jumped but is now safely swimming towards sandy shores, LOL. OOps, I forgot to tell you that there's also the shower gel and the body lotion (har har har)...

Riannon, after you pointed it out, I realised that your avatar is a Waterhouse indeed - it's the Lady of Shallott! It's more than a coincidence, don't you think? And yes, I do fully agree with you: there's a note - I defined it as slightly mushroomy myrrh - that is somewhat reminiscent of La Myrrhe (I do happen to own and love LaM!).

Taolady, the scent is not discontinued, it's only hard to find, a well-guarded secret, it seems

Twolf, I'm sorry, as far as I know there's no site for Maria Amalia and I'm not aware of someone selling samples on the web. But...watch out for PMs! The longevity of the scent is excellent, but it stays close to the skin, almost devoid of sillage. The feeling I get is more like an aura around me.