Salimbeni Cigarette Case with Hand-Painted Fired Enamelled Flowers

Rectangular cigarette case with rounded corners in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with fire-enameled and hand-painted miniature by painter Renato Dainelli depicting a pheasant....

Rectangular pocket cigarette case in 925/1000 sterling silver with rounded shaped lines, alternately fire enamelled. With spring opening button and lost hinge, i.e. semi-invisible. M...

Vertical cigarette case in 925/1000 sterling silver with fire-enameled red stripes and hand-engraved finishing. In a modern contemporary style. Measurements cm. 6 x 2.3 cm high. 11. ...

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...

A fine antique Austro-Hungarian silver and enamel cigarette/card case; part of our continental silverware collection This fine antique Austro-Hungarian silver and enamel cigarette/card case has a rectangular form with rounded edges. The front cover is embellished with an enamel panel depicting two Japanese ladies playing traditional Japanese instruments, the koto (13 stringed zither) and the shamisen (3 stringed guitar-like instrument). The players are seated on the ground in an outdoor scene with traditional Japanese lanterns hanging from tree branches overhead. The sides of this cigarette case and posterior cover are plain and unembellished. The case is fitted with a push fit catch which when released reveals the hallmarked gilt interior of the hinged compartments. The hallmarks to the interior of this impressive case include: Silver quality/purity: Dianakopf mark (800 standard, 800/1000) Assay mark: L (Ljubljana, Slovenia) This variation of the Dianakopf mark was used from 1872-1922, determining the date of this piece as circa 1900. Condition This antique silver business card holder...

Antique early 20th century Austrian solid silver & hand painted enamel cigarette case. Stunning quality, richly parcel gilt, the cover enamelled with a young nude girl in her bed, surrounded by draped silk sheets...

Silver cigarette case of Taj Mahal.

Fantastic engraved Cigar - Cigarette case with a Bugatti Royale. Bugatti type 41. Very nice piece of automobilia. Perfect gift for a Classic car or car mascot - hood ornament collector.