Dragon Humidor
Vintage 1910s Chinese Chinese Export Cigar Boxes and Humidors
Silver
Vintage 1920s English Art Deco Cigar Boxes and Humidors
Jade, Gold, Sterling Silver
People Also Browsed
Vintage 1930s American Art Deco Tobacco Accessories
Silver
20th Century German Cigar Boxes and Humidors
Silver
20th Century English Cigar Boxes and Humidors
Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Desk Sets
Leather
Antique Late 19th Century French Louis XIV Jewelry Boxes
Brass, Bronze
Antique 1860s English Victorian Cigar Boxes and Humidors
Oak, Cedar
Antique 19th Century English Victorian Cigar Boxes and Humidors
Brass
Vintage 1970s Italian Other Cigar Boxes and Humidors
Malachite, Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
Vintage 1960s Italian Cigar Boxes and Humidors
Metal, Silver
Antique 1870s Chinese Antiquities
Silver
Antique Late 19th Century German Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Porcelain
Antique Early 1900s Chinese Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Silver
Early 20th Century Japanese Japonisme Tobacco Accessories
Metal
20th Century British Art Deco Decorative Boxes
Hardwood
Antique 1890s Chinese Chinese Export Antiquities
Silver
Antique 1870s German Black Forest Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Wood
Recent Sales
Antique 1880s French Art Nouveau Tobacco Accessories
Bronze
Early 20th Century Chinese Cigar Boxes and Humidors
Copper
20th Century Japanese Cigar Boxes and Humidors
Silver
20th Century Japanese Cigar Boxes and Humidors
Silver
Antique 1840s Chinese Chinese Export Antiquities
Silver
Antique Late 19th Century Chinese Victorian Boxes and Cases
Sterling Silver
Vintage 1950s Cigar Boxes and Humidors
Walnut
Early 20th Century Cigar Boxes and Humidors
Brass
Early 20th Century Chinese Cigar Boxes and Humidors
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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