Portable Cigar Box
20th Century British Art Deco Cigar Boxes and Humidors
Silver
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Cigar Boxes and Humidors
Copper, Enamel
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21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Animal Sculptures
Porcelain
1990s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Pitchers
Glass
20th Century Russian Decorative Boxes
Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Animal Sculptures
Crystal, Gold Plate, Brass
Early 20th Century Austrian Arts and Crafts Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal, Brass, Wire
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass
20th Century British Victorian Animal Sculptures
Ceramic
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Metal
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Desk Sets
Enamel
Vintage 1950s Italian Dressers
Iron
Vintage 1950s French Mid-Century Modern Console Tables
Metal
Antique 15th Century and Earlier Chinese Tang Antiquities
Pottery
Vintage 1920s Dutch Art Deco Sideboards
Oak
Antique 15th Century and Earlier Chinese Tang Sculptures and Carvings
Terracotta
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Glass, Walnut
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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