Smokem If You Gotem

QUESTION: My mother used to smoke, and she assembled a collection of antique cigarette cases. She began with one she found at a flea market, but after a while she added one, then another, and another. Over time, she amassed quite a collection. Sadly, she died from lung cancer. I inherited her collection. I don’t smoke but find the design of these cases fascinating. Considering the attitude towards smoking, are cigarette cases collectible, and if so, what can you tell me about their history?

ANSWER: Antique cigarette cases first appeared in the late 19th century, coinciding with the industrialization of cigarette manufacturing, and became symbols of status among wealthy Victorian society. They were originally designed to protect delicate cigarettes but evolved into fashionable accessories reflecting the artistic styles of the time.

The primary function for a cigarette case is to keep the fragile tubes of tobacco from being crushed. But smoking cigarettes has long been associated with style and fashion, which is why cigarette cases quickly became highly decorative personal accessories.

During the peak of smoking popularity during the first half of the 20th century, cigarette cases were a common accessory for both sexes. Additionally, they had monograms, enamel, and rhinestone decoration. Some featured engraved or hammered scenes. They became an essential part of a woman’s look, as important as a scarf or hat. 

Cigarette cases first appeared during the Victorian era when smokers were primarily men. Cases were usually made of silver- or gold-toned metal in a slim rectangular shape, which opened like a book to display cigarettes on both sides. These cases not only provided easy access but protected the cigarettes.

Manufacturers have made cigarette cases from brass, sterling silver, silverplate, vinyl, Bakelite, wood, enamel, leather/animal skin, mother-of-pearl, 9k and 14k gold, gold-tone metal, and mesh. Common embellishments and designs include engravings, monograms, filigree, guilloché, peacocks/birds, flowers, fruits, cabochons, gemstones, animals, and cityscapes.

Silver was one of the most common materials used to make antique and vintage cigarette cases. Designers and jewelers would emboss and chase their cases to create everything from delicate floral or geometric patterns to bold designs, such as a coat of arms. The interiors of better cases were gilded, sometimes bearing a tender or congratulatory inscription. The surfaces of other cases were hammered, to give them an Arts and Crafts look. There were also silver cases whose flat surfaces were interrupted and punctuated by inlaid bands of gold.

After World War I, when cigarette smoking was extremely popular and chic, Paris became a center for cigarette-case design. Originally simple in appearance, cigarette cases grew increasingly ornate by the 1920s. During the Art Nouveau period, makers produced intricate designs on cases, including engraved or inlaid wild birds or flowers. Some men’s cases featured scantily clad women or their initials.

One Parisian designer from the 1920s, Raymond Templier, created lacquered cases as well as silver-and-enamel cases, both sporting brightly colored geometric designs. Other Art Deco designers produced enamel cases with bold, graphic imagery. Cigarette boxes first appeared with polished panels of sterling silver, with stepped covers that recalled the shapes of Mayan temples.

From the 1930s through the 1950s, cigarette cases were at their peak, as was the pastime of smoking cigarettes. Art Deco engravings, delicate fillagree, and cabochon or rhinestone designs often covered the casings.

Because people believed that gold was opulent enough to be unadorned, cases made of gold  often had engravings, while those made of silver were often decorated with enamels and rhinestones.

Bakelite became a common material for cigarette cases in the 1940s. While the typical case was a slim tin for carrying, others were designed as boxes for home use. Luxury French  retailers such as Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels offered their own cases covered in diamonds and other gemstones. 

Also, cigarette makers, such as Camel, Chesterfield, Players, Lucky Strikes, produced their own cases, nicknamed “flat fifties” due to their ability to contain 50 cigarettes. By the 1970s, decorative cigarette cases had declined in favor, replaced by snap-top pouches made of vinyl or nylon.

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A Little Box Named After the Roman Goddess of Fire

 

QUESTION: A few months ago, I was out antiquing and came across several little silver boxes in an antique shop. They didn’t seem to have an obvious use, as they were too small to fit much in. The owner of the shop told me they were vesta cases and that they used to hold matches back in the 19th century. One had been decorated in repousse while the other two were rather plain. What can you tell me about these little boxes? Are they worth collecting?

ANSWER: Vesta cases were small portable boxes, made from precious and non-precious metals,  used to keep matches dry and to prevent them from igniting. Usually the base of the vesta case had a serrated edge, known as the striker. The user dragged the matches, called vestas, across the striker to ignite them. And, yes, they’re highly collectible.

Vesta cases first appeared in 1832 when an Englishman named William Newton patented a match he called the wax “vesta.” The vesta, also called a “strike anywhere match,” had a tip of phosphorus and a wax stem over cotton threads. As the name suggests, these matches would ignite when struck on different surfaces, making them prone to accidental combustion. So they needed to be enclosed in a metal case. 

Named for Vesta, the Roman goddess of fire, home, hearth and family, vesta cases often depicted her as the fire in her temple. In the United States, vesta cases became known as match safes because they kept matches safe in a non-flammable case. 

Before the invention of safety matches, matches were often struck on rough surfaces, but they were also highly susceptible to moisture. Vesta cases protected matches from both dampness and damage.

There were three main types of vesta cases—portable pocket vestas, table or mounted vestas, and “go to bed” vestas. Men often hung a pocket vesta from their watch fob chain. People kept a larger table vestas near fireplaces around their homes, as well as by the kitchen stove. And they used a “go to bed” vesta, attached to a chamberstick, to light their way to their bedroom at night. .

Manufacturers made vesta cases from a variety of materials, including silver, brass, tin, gunmetal, nickel silver,  ivory, bone, tortoiseshell, gold, pewter, and enamel. The more unusual materials included leather, wood, horn, and ceramics for table vestas. Wealthy individuals often commissioned custom cases with intricate designs, engravings, or even gemstone embellishments, transforming a practical item into a work of art.

Although most manufacturers produced vesta cases of less expensive materials, most often brass or nickel silver, thus making them more affordable, sterling silver was perhaps the most common material, especially in England. Wealthier users often carried vestas made of  gold or decorated with enamel. More expensive vestas often had a gold wash interior to prevent corrosion by the chemically active match heads.

Silver vesta cases, often hallmarked and intricately engraved, featured repoussé work, , adding texture and visual interest. People could also purchase enameled vesta cases,  adorned with miniature paintings, floral motifs, or whimsical scenes.

Besides being rectangular, vesta cases came in many different shapes and decorations. As well as plain and decorated square, oblong and round cases, many came in novelty shapes. Silver, brass, or white metal pigs with hinged heads were popular, as were vesta cases in the form of Mr Punch, hearts, skulls, books, musical instruments, owls, boots and shoes, bottles, suitcases, birds, ladies' legs, and so on. Sporting decorations were also common, especially for golf and cricket, as were hunting scenes and armorial decorations.

Jewelers often engraved decorations into metal vestas, with floreate patterns the most common, though they sometimes used other techniques, including repoussé and chasing, guilloché, engine turning, cloisonné, cold-painting, enameling and niello for more expensive cases.

Wealthier people commissioned or purchased hallmarked gold or silver vesta cases which a jeweler would often personalize by inscribing their initials in a cartouche on the front. 

As well as being status symbols, vesta case were an excellent form of advertising.  Prestigious companies engaged master silversmiths to craft vesta cases from precious metals to promote their famous brands.

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, manufacturers created vesta cases to celebrate special events such as commemorating Queen Victoria’s Jubilee Anniversary or promoting companies, serving as a form of advertising. Vesta cases also promoted  cigar and tobacco brands, as well as commemorated moments in history. Many vesta cases were miniature works of art, with beautiful craftsmanship. 

Manufacturers worldwide, including those in the United Kingdom, in the U.S.A., continental Europe, Japan and Australia, produced vesta cases. Noted English goldsmiths such as Charles Murat, Asprey, Mappin & Webb, and William Neale & Sons and Sampson Mordan, also crafted sterling silver vesta cases for discerning clients.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "Roman Arts and Culture" in the 2025 Winter Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Jewelry for the Dinner Table

QUESTION: I’ve been collecting napkin rings for quite a while. To date, I have about 50 or 60. I’ve always been intrigued by the multitude of designs and materials from which they’re made. Recently, I was thinking that I don’t really know how they got started. Can you tell me the origin of napkin rings? To they go back a long time or are they a relatively recent invention?



ANSWER: While most people today use napkin rings for special holiday dinners or special dinner parties, in fact, they had a totally different use when they first appeared.

People use napkin rings, sometimes called christening bangles, to hold table napkins neatly on a dining table. Historians believe they were originally handmade from strips of fabric and used to identify the napkin of each user between weekly wash days so each person could continue using the exact same one as a way of keeping illnesses at bay.

The Chinese invented paper in the 2nd century BCE and soon after created paper napkins. People used paper folded in squares, known as chih pha, when serving tea.

Around 1800, members of the French bourgeoisie originally gave single silver napkin rings engraved with the name of the owner as christening gifts and pairs of them as wedding gifts. Soon, they became available in numbered sets of 4, 6, 8, 10, or 12 in all countries of the western world. Most 19th century napkin ring makers made them of silver or silver plate, as well as bone, wood, pearl embroidery, porcelain, glass, and other materials. In the 20th century, bakelite and other new materials were used.

Napkin rings appear as single items with the name or initials of the owner, notably given as christening presents, or pairs often given as gifts at weddings and silver weddings. In the English speaking countries, numbered sets of 4, 6, 8, 10 or 12 napkin rings are found. Napkin rings are an invention of the European bourgeoisie, first appearing in France about 1800 and soon spreading to all countries in the western world. Most 19th century napkin rings were made of silver or silver plate, but others were made in bone, wood, pearl embroidery, porcelain, glass, and other materials. In the 20th century, they used Bakelite and other plastics.

Almost every silversmith in Europe and in the United States made sterling silver and plated napkin rings. Even the basic rings sometimes had fluted borders, scrolled patterns, and sections of satin finish.

Americans loved figural napkin rings—a simple napkin ring part of which was a small figure or sculpture that could take any shape and show any motif. Special rings made for children with little chicks, dogs, and cats were a favorite gift for christenings and Christmas. But beautifully designed rings with floral motifs, monograms and other design elements were just as popular.

Upper middle and upper class Victorian families used napkin rings for fashionable and refined dining from shortly after the Civil War to shortly before World War I. During this time, napkin rings were especially elaborate and artistic. Many makers created napkin rings set on a platform base along with an ornate figure of a bird, flower, or cherub.

People considered napkin rings personal items, so they had them engraved with an individual's name, initials, or family designation such as Mother and Father.

Sculptured fruit such as cherries and gooseberries, flowers including lilies and roses, a snail and shell, a frog and lily pad, a dog house with a dog at the door, butterflies and fans, are only a few of the Victorian fancies now available to the collector as a result of the variety which were manufactured.

The Meriden Britannia Company Probably was the largest and most prolific of the silver plated napkin ring manufacturers. Their catalogs sometimes included a half dozen pages of just rings.

Other sterling silver napkin rings came from Reed and Barton, William Rogers, Gorham, Tufts, Unger Brothers, Wilcox and even the legendary Tiffany. By 1893 Marshal Field Company of Chicago was proudly offering napkin rings of "engraved satin” or of 'bright silver and gold lined."

 To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Article section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the other 18,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about the early 20th century in the Fall 2018 Edition, "20th Century Ltd.," online now.