Sterling Silver Cigarette Case with Blue Sunburst Enamel Guilloche - 1937

We are delighted to offer this exquisite art deco solid sterling silver cigarette case made in Birmingham 1936 with marks for Joseph Gloster Ltd. Practicality, elegance and distin...

We are delighted to offer this wonderful Georgian solid silver etui/needle case with the marks of Taylor & Perry, Birmingham 1830.The small proportions and...

We are delighted to offer this wonderful Victorian solid silver 'castle top' cigar/cheroot case made by one of, if not the best, box make of the 19th century: Nathaniel Mills of Birm...

We are delighted to offer this beautiful pair of antique Imperial Russian solid silver enamel spoons made in Moscow c.1882-1899 with marks for Vasily Agafonov. This pair is of a lar...

We are delighted to offer this fabulous Victorian solid silver cigar/cheroot case made by Nathaniel Mills, Birmingham 1853. Bearing the hallmarks of Nathaniel Mills, unsurprisingly...

We are delighted to offer this fabulous solid silver card case made by Edward Smith in Birmingham, 1862. This card case is a fine example of fine Victorian craftsmanship and hand e...

Antique Sterling silver cigarette case Weight 160 grams PRADERA is a second generation of a family run business jeweler...

Charming RAF sterling silver and blue guilloche enamel compact case An RAF Elizabeth II vintage sterling silver and guilloche enamel powder compact This is a charming piece made in Birmingham 1952 by John William Barrett, the iridescent blue enamel is set with the RAF wings emblem There is an interesting companion to the compact, a George V Art Deco sterling silver and guilloche enamel comb...

Rectangular table cigarette case with rounded corners in sterling silver 925/1000 gold plated with beautiful miniature fire enamelled and hand painted by the painter Beatrice Mellana reproducing a "still life" by the Flemish painter Willem Claes Heda. Dimensions cm. 5.7 x 9 x 1.7. Weight gr. 174. Designed by Franco Salimbeni in 1969 and manufactured in Florence in numerous specimens with various subjects and different colors, in the headquarters of the Salimbeni Company with completely manual execution by artisan artists with thick slab and large reinforcements suitable for withstanding numerous enamelled firings at about 800° C. Miniature is a very ancient technique which consists of painting works in small proportions. It was born for the decoration of the first letter of the paragraph of the books. Over the years, however, this technique is refined and enriched, then moving on to precious personal items. Hand-painted miniatures can be done with multiple different techniques. The most important that we use on our articles are of three kinds: 1) Fire enamel. 2) Water tempera on an ivory plate. 3) Painted on mother-of-pearl. Fire enameled miniatures: On a first layer of enamel generally white or very clear or even transparent suitably liquefied at a temperature of about 750 ° C, the chosen subject is painted using miniature colors which are as many colored crystals, ground and reduced to a very fine, almost impalpable powder washed and purified in distilled water with the addition of small quantities of deoxidizing acids which, diluted with essential oils (usually essential oil of solder), can be mixed to form a palette of colors. With very fine sable hair brushes you draw the subject starting from the perimeter and then gradually adding various layers of color. It is necessary to carry out various firings very often so that the colors harden and are not absorbed by the underlying glaze as, during the subsequent firings at 750 ° C, during liquefaction, it would spread irremediably. Hence the need to form the painting a little at a time, cooking it numerous times. Therefore it is necessary to proceed with numerous retouching, often overlapping different colors that only the painter's experience knows. A beautiful miniature needs from 20 to over 50 firings and is finished when the painter deems he does not have to further intervene. Some colors must have darker tones than others because then, by superimposing the transparent enamel placed at the end of the miniature, they fade. This transparent layer, called “fondant” in jargon, must be smoothed and polished like all other translucent enamel colors. The miniatures with water tempera colors are painted on real ivory...

Shaped rectangular pocket cigarette case in 925/1000 sterling silver with translucent fired enamels on guillochè with Art Deco style geometric de...

Hallmarked From our Silver collection, we are delighted to offer this Art Nouveau Silver and Enamel Cigarette Case from Vienna, Austria. The Silver and Enamel Cigarette Case of stunning Art Nouveau design with a central enamel scene depicting the legend of St. Hubert, Patron Saint of hunters with the divine deer. The scene features St. Hubert in the foreground dressed much like the later Robin Hood with feathered cap carrying a cross bow. In the background the divine deer stands on a river bank with long antlers portraying a crucifix between them amongst foliage and trees. The Scene flanked by Art Nouveau design upon a Silver case with push button thumb tab. The interior of the Cigarette Case is finished in silver-gilt with an inscription to the left hand side reading Mr et Mdme. Dr Groedel Hietzing 20/VII 1900. (20/07/1900). The Silver and Enamel Cigarette Case is hallmarked twice on the thumb tab, once below the ‘1900’ and twice on the right hand side of the inner case. The last hallmarks feature an illegible makers mark however it is clear that the hallmarks show the hexagonal Dianakopf (Diana’s head) mark showing the silver is .900 fineness and dated to between 1872-1922 inline with the inscription date of 1900. Dianakopf (Diana’s Head) was first used in 1867 the cartouche shape and number within indicate the silver fineness. Beginning in 1872, a letter was added to indicate city of assay. The hallmark comes in varied shapes depending on the year and fineness. Hietzing is the 13th municipal District of Vienna. It is located west of the central districts, west of Meidling. Hietzing is a heavily populated urban area with many residential buildings but also contains large areas of the Vienna Woods, along with Schönbrunn Palace. St. Hubert The legend of St. Hubert holds that on a Good Friday morning, while the faithful were in church, Hubert was hunting in the forest. As he pursued a magnificent stag or hart, the animal turned and Hubert was astounded to see a crucifix floating between its antlers. He heard a voice saying: “Hubert unless thou turnest to the Lord and leadest a holy life, thou shalt quickly go down into Hell.” Hubert dismounted and prostrated himself, and after asking “Lord, what wouldst thou have me do?” is told, “Go and seek Lambert, and he will instruct you.” The story of the stag first appears in one of the later legendary hagiographies (Bibliotheca hagiographic Latina, nos. 3994–4002) and has been appropriated from the legend of Saint Eustace...

Rectangular table box in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent two-tone striped fired enamel on guillochè and hand-engraved ornament. Late Empire Napoleon III style. ...