Antique Cat Cigar Box
1920s Antique Cat Cigar Box
Sterling Silver, Bronze
Late 19th Century Swiss Black Forest Antique Cat Cigar Box
Fruitwood
Early 20th Century European Art Nouveau Antique Cat Cigar Box
Pottery, Terracotta
People Also Browsed
1950s English Renaissance Antique Cat Cigar Box
Oak
17th Century French Antique Cat Cigar Box
Softwood
1960s Scandinavian Scandinavian Modern Antique Cat Cigar Box
Rosewood
1890s Russian Baltic Antique Cat Cigar Box
Silver
Mid-19th Century English Victorian Antique Cat Cigar Box
Animal Skin, Glass, Plaster, Feathers
Mid-19th Century English High Victorian Antique Cat Cigar Box
Other
Early 2000s American Black Forest Antique Cat Cigar Box
Wood
1910s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Antique Cat Cigar Box
Metal
Late 19th Century Swiss Black Forest Antique Cat Cigar Box
Metal
Early 20th Century American Arts and Crafts Antique Cat Cigar Box
Bronze
1720s Spanish Baroque Antique Cat Cigar Box
Giltwood, Paint
Late 19th Century Swiss Black Forest Antique Cat Cigar Box
Wood
1880s Swiss Black Forest Antique Cat Cigar Box
Fruitwood
Early 1900s English Antique Cat Cigar Box
Art Glass, Wood
1980s Italian Modern Antique Cat Cigar Box
Cedar
2010s Italian Modern Antique Cat Cigar Box
Polyester, Wood
Recent Sales
1880s Swiss Black Forest Antique Cat Cigar Box
Wood
1920s German Art Deco Antique Cat Cigar Box
Multi-gemstone, Silver, Sterling Silver
Finding the Right cigar-boxes for You
Cigars were not always packaged in what we now know as the antique cigar boxes and humidors that have over time become eye-catching decorative objects as well as collector’s items.
Outside the United States, cigar boxes are said to have originated in the 1840s when a German businessman, Hermann Dietrich Upmann of H. Upmann Cigars, bought a cigar factory and opened a bank in Havana, Cuba. Upmann reportedly handed out cedar cigar boxes branded with advertising for the bank as gifts to his banking clients. In the early 1860s, after years of cigars being shipped in big crates or barrels, cigar boxes became a requirement when the United States passed a law that mandated the use of boxes for tobacco producers, which was part of a broader effort to regulate the tobacco industry and generate revenue for the war effort. Humidors, which are moisture-controlled storage boxes that allow a cigar enthusiast to store, organize and preserve a larger collection of cigars, were very popular accessories during the early 1900s onward.
As the use of cigar boxes and humidors became widespread, all kinds of options materialized over the years, with particularly vibrant editions of these decorative objects emerging during the Art Nouveau, mid-century modern and other eras. Visionary designers like Isamu Noguchi popularized the idea of tobacco accessories as art with projects such as his decorative ashtrays.
Today, not unlike antique and vintage ashtrays, cigar boxes are more than practical objects. In fact, there are many uses for an old cigar box even after the cigars are gone. They can be used as planters, tissue boxes or can support your long-delayed effort to organize your sewing and craft supplies. During the Great Depression, an emptied cigar box — perhaps a walnut Art Deco-style cigar box with inlays in bronze and hand-carved decorative geometric patterns adorning its exterior — was occasionally repurposed as a jewelry box.
Antique and vintage cigar boxes — made of wood, metal or other materials — are valuable treasures in some corners of the collecting world, and in your home, they’re exquisite desk ornaments and colorful flourishes to add to your bookcase or mantel. On 1stDibs, find a variety of antique and vintage cigar boxes and other decorative boxes today.
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