Table Cigarette Box fine hand-engraved and two-colour fire-enamelled. Salimbeni

Rectangular table box in gold-plated 925/1000 sterling silver with fine hand-engraved ornaments in late Napoleon III Empire style and transparent brown fired enamel over hand-engrave...

Rectangular table box in sterling silver 925/1000 gold plated with very fine hand-engraving Baroque style on the lid, fire-enamelled in 2 colours. In the center an ancient oval plate...

Table cigarette case in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent fired enamel on guilloché with hand-engraved engravings in the Frenc...

Rounded rectangular snuffbox in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with beautiful fire enamelled miniature hand painted by the painter Simone Dainelli inspired by the paintings of Boris Vallejo, in fantastic contemporary style, with hand-engraved frame. Designed by Franco Salimbeni in 1967 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 high-fire 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...

Round shaped box Made in Italy Silver Gilted 925/1000 with translucent enamels on guilloche with hand painted floral miniatures and gold paillons The Miniatures are hand-painted on a usually white homogeneous enamel base. The same colored glazes are used, but ground much finer, which are mixed with special oils to form an infinite palette of colors. The paint must be gradually dried on electric stoves...

This antique engraved sterling silver cigarette or decorative box was made in Japan in approximately 1900 in the period Japonisme style. The box is composed of an ebonized hardwood c...

This fine sterling silver box is a piece of high craftmenship. All the surfaces are finely engraved with rich Baroque decor. It is a little jewel of handmade work. It was a jewel bo...

English Mid-Century (1940s) sterling silver rectangular (cigarette) box with fluted etched design and initials: A.M.G.