Vintage Savinelli Karelian Birch Humidor Harrods Mid 20th Century

This is a stylish antique Victorian oak brass and cedar lined tabletop cigar humidor circa 1860 in date. The rectangular box features a lift out tray and adjustable divisions with sunken handles to the sides and a hinged lid with a central brass shield. Complete with the original Bramah lock and key. It would make a beautiful gift to any connoisseur of fine cigars. Condition: In excellent condition. As an antique items, the humidor shows signs of use commensurate with age, these minor condition issues are mentioned for accuracy and, as seen in the accompanying photographs, it displays beautifully. Dimensions in cm: Height 19.5 x Width 44 x Depth 29 Dimensions in inches: Height 8 inches x Width 1 foot, 5 inches x Depth 11 inches Humidor is any kind of box or room with constant humidity that is used to store cigars, cigarettes, orpipe tobacco. For private use, small wooden or acrylic glass humidor boxes for a few dozen cigars are used, while cigar shops may have walk-in humidors. Humidors can be used to store other goods for which a certain level of humidity is desirable; the Colorado Rockies Major League Baseball team stores game balls in a large humidor at their home stadium, Coors Field, to counteract the effects of Denver's high altitude and generally low humidity. Humidors of all sizes use hygrometers to keep track of the humidity levels. Classification of humidors Walk-in humidor - most common in cigar bars or stores. One room is built as or converted to a humidor where all the cigars are stored. Cabinet humidor - usually placed on the floor as a piece of furniture. Typically holds 1000-5000 cigars. Table humidor - often quite heavy, though portable in theory, it's usually kept in one location. Capacity ranges from three hundred to a few thousand cigars. It usually comes with a polished wood exterior, marble, leather or combination of exotic elements, and glass top. Personal humidor - semi-regular cigar smokers will sometimes keep a small humidor in their homes for personal storage, special events, or aesthetic characteristics of the humidor itself . Usually contains 20-75 cigars. This may also be known as a "Desktop Humidor". Travel humidor - portable and made for carrying cigars enough for the outing or event, usually 2 to 10 cigars. Oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus - Latin "oak tree" having approximately 600 extant species. Oak wood has a density of about 0.75 g/cm3, great strength and hardness, and is very resistant to insect and fungal attack because of its high tannin content. It also has very appealing grain markings, particularly when quartersawn. Oak wood is very durable, easy to maintain and resistant to wear and tear which is why it can be easily handed to the next generations if taken well care of. Oak wood virtually lasts forever and you can still admire oak furniture in museums and palaces even if it was made many centuries ago. Oak has been prized since the Middle Ages for use in interior panelling of prestigious buildings such as the debating chamber of the House of Commons in London and in the construction of fine furniture. Bramah is London's oldest security company. Established at 124 Piccadilly, London in 1784, and today based in Marylebone, London and Romford, Essex. Bramah made their first lock in 1784 and the patent was awarded in 1787. The designer was Joseph Bramah. Joseph Bramah was a leading inventor of the industrial revolution, patenting over 18 new ideas, including a new valve for the water closet (toilet), the hydraulic pump, a fountain pen, and a fire engine. Bramah also introduced a beer hand pump for use at the bar, to prevent fluid loss when barmen went downstairs to pour a new jug! Due to the quality of his manufacturing, his name became a by-word amongst British Engineers for engineering excellence and many of his inventions are on display in the Science Museum in London. You can find one of his original toilets still working in Osborne House, Queen Victoria's home on the Isle of Wight. The Bramah lock was unique and advanced property and valuables protection enormously. Indeed it was 50 years ahead of any Chubb lock...

A rare antique Edwardian oak stationery cabinet of rectangular outline, the swing top with fall front enclosing fitted compartments, Circa 1900 in date. The cabinet features ormolu ...

This is a beautiful large Vintage Russian Revival porcelain and ormolu mounted jewellery casket in rose pink, dating from the last quarter of the 20th century. This highly decorat...

A superb and rare complete Elizabeth II walnut cased, 117 piece, twelve place canteen of flatware cutlery, in the elegant Kings pattern, retailed by Harrods Knightsbridge London and bearing hallmarks for Sheffield, 1963 and the makers mark of  Gee & Holmes. Comprising: twelve table forks, twelve dessert forks, twelve dessert spoons, twelve soup spoons, twelve teaspoons, twelve fish knives with silver blades twelve fish forks with silver tines, twelve table forks, twelve dessert knives six table spoons three piece fork set  All contained in the original superb fitted walnut canteen box with hinged lid and a single fitted drawer and custom fitted in blue felt. It bears the label "Harrods Ltd Cutlers & Silversmiths, Knightsbridge, S.W." This is the complete set, it is highly unusual to find such a nice patterned set with not even a single piece missing! Condition: In excellent condition, please see photos for confirmation. Dimensions in cm: Height 19 cm x Width 50 cm x Depth 35.5 cm  - Canteen case Weight 5.44 kg Dimensions in inches: Height 7 inches x Width 1 foot, 8 inches x Depth 1 foot, 2 inches - Canteen case Weight 175 troy oz Harrods founder Charles Henry Harrod first established his business in 1824, aged 25. The business was located south of the River Thames in Southwark. The premises were located at 228 Borough High Street. He ran this business, variously listed as a draper, mercer and a haberdasher, certainly until 1831. During 1825 the business was listed as 'Harrod and Wicking, Linen Drapers, Retail', but this partnership was dissolved at the end of that year. His first grocery business appears to be as ‘Harrod & Co.Grocers’ at 163 Upper Whitecross Street, Clerkenwell, E.C.1., in 1832. In 1834 in London's East End, he established a wholesale grocery in Stepney, at 4, Cable Street, with a special interest in tea. In 1849, to escape the vice of the inner city and to capitalise on trade to the Great Exhibition of 1851 in nearby Hyde Park, Harrod took over a small shop in the district of Brompton, on the site of the current store. Beginning in a single room employing two assistants and a messenger boy, Harrod's son Charles Digby Harrod built the business into a thriving retail operation selling medicines, perfumes, stationery, fruit and vegetables. Harrods rapidly expanded, acquired the adjoining buildings, and employed one hundred people by 1880. However, the store's booming fortunes were reversed in early December 1883, when it burnt to the ground. Remarkably, in view of this calamity, Charles Harrod fulfilled all of his commitments to his customers to make Christmas deliveries that year—and made a record profit in the process. In short order, a new building was built on the same site, and soon Harrods extended credit for the first time to its best customers, among them Oscar Wilde,Lillie Langtry, Ellen Terry, Charlie Chaplin, Noël Coward, Gertrude Lawrence, Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, Sigmund Freud, A. A. Milne, and many members of the British Royal Family.  On Wednesday, 16 November 1898, Harrods debuted England's first "moving staircase" (escalator) in their Brompton Road stores; the device was actually a woven leather conveyor belt-like unit with a wood and "silver plate-glass" balustrade. Nervous customers were offered brandy at the top to revive them after their 'ordeal'. The department store was purchased by the Fayed brothers in 1985. In 2010 Harrods was sold to Qutar Holdings.  Harrods was the holder of royal warrants from 1910 till 2000 from the following: * Queen Elizabeth II (Provisions and Household Goods) * The Duke of Edinburgh (Outfitters) * The Prince of Wales (Outfitters and Saddlers) * The late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (China and Glass) The store occupies a 5-acre (20,000 m2) site and has over one million square feet (90,000 m2) of selling space in over 330 departments making it the biggest department store in Europe. The UK's second-biggest shop, Selfridges, Oxford Street, is a little over half the size with 540,000 square feet (50,000 m2) of selling space, while the third largest, Allders of Croydon had 500,000 square feet (46,000 m2) of retail space. By comparison Europe's second-largest department store the KaDeWe in Berlin has a retail space of 650,000 square feet (60,000 m2). GEE & HOLMES LTD This enterprise can be traced to the registration of Thomas Raynes Ltd as a private limited company in 1935.   Capitalised at £1,000, it was based at 39 Eyre Street, and dealt in cutlery and various tools.  The subscribers were brothers: James Fairclough Gee (1899-1974) and Reginald L. Gee (1913-?).    They had been born at St Helens, Lancashire, the sons of James Gee (1868-1948) – an insurance superintendent – and his wife, Agnes née Fairclough.  In 1939, James and Reginald Gee were living with their parents at 47 Brooklands Crescent.  They were described in the Register of England & Wales (1939) as cutlery manufacturers.  Also residing at Brooklands Crescent (62) was Leonard Wycliffe Holmes (1901-1989), his wife Florence, and their son, James Geoffrey (1932-1985).  Leonard had been born in Sheffield, the son of John Clement Holmes (a steel and iron turner) and his wife, Bertha née Shelton.  Leonard apparently received a technical education, as in 1920 he co-presented a paper on electro-plating  at Mappin Hall.  He held an Associateship in Metallurgy from Sheffield University (Sheffield Daily Independent, 19 November 1920).  Leonard and Florence had been married at a Wadsley Church in 1927: she was the sister of James F. Gee.  In 1939, Leonard was working as a commercial traveller in cutlery.   During the Second World War, Thomas Raynes Ltd was listed at 41 Arundel Street – the same address as cutlery manufacturer, L. Holmes & Co.   The Hawley Collection has a stainless table knife marked ‘L. Holmes & Co’, which was probably made at this time.   Thomas Raynes Ltd became the vehicle for a new business entity – Gee & Holmes Ltd – which initially occupied 41 Arundel Street.  In an advertisement in 1946, the partners announced that they would be moving into a new factory at 61 Eyre Lane in early 1947.  The two-storey factory, which became known as Heritage Works, was bounded by Eyre Lane and Newton Lane.  Gee and Holmes...

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