In the 1913 Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office, Vol. 196, p 273, is patent number 17327, November 4, 1913. It was a patent for Hudnut's "Creme Violet Sec. A Dry Cream for the skin" (For a Creme Violet sec.) Richard Hudnut. It was already being sold in 1906. (Note comment in photo displaying bottom of the jar)
There are actually remains of the product in this bottle! It was found without a lid buried in dirt. This 'dry cream' had no oils within it. My guess is that the ingredients turned to cement sitting on a vanity. Most likely, it was tossed out with the lid on, then it eventually fell off as it pushed back toward the ground's surface.
I have found a photo likeness of this same style of bottle online, that has a date of 1906 on its labeled bottom. 1906 accurate. The patent must have been an afterthought by Hudnut in 1913. You can find this image of the dated bottom (label) and see the cap: Check www.rubylane.com for photos for Richard Hudnut cream jar. They are asking $50 because it is in very good condition with both bottom label and cap.
Richard Hudnut (love that last name for some reason) had a famous salon on Fifth Avenue in New York City. It and his name continued after his death. It was written up for decades in numerous magazines, like Ladies' Home Journal in 1950. Hudnut was also noted in The American Perfumer and Essential Oil Review, Volume 8, pg. 235, in 1914.
Hudnut was born in 1856 in Philadelphia but his family moved to Brooklyn, NY. His father owned a drug store in Brooklyn. Richard married twice, and died in 1928, but his name carried on after new owners took over. You can read an extensive essay on him at: www.cosmeticsandskin.com using extensive references.
Here is a quote from that link: "Richard Hudnut regarded himself as a high-class perfumer rather than a pharmacist or cosmetic chemist and looked to France for inspiration. This helped determine the way he did business – the lack of advertising, the use of price maintenance and the move to uptown New York – and the products he produced."