Anglo-Japanese Tobacco Accessories

An extremely scarce ‘Namiki’ table lighter in ‘Giant’ table size with silver-plated hardware with a glossy black background with a red and yellow chrysanthemum with foliage to the front, and three gold and red flowers with foliage to the reverse. Marked Dunhill, Made in England with patent number 390107 to the base. Bears artist’s signature in gold. Notes: The decoration to the bodies of these table lighters is created using the very skilled lacquer technique known as maki-e (translated as ‘sprinkled picture’). This method of decoration started in Japan in the Heian period (794–1185 AD), where layers of wet lacquer are dusted with precious metal powders to create patterns or images, often using very delicate, fine brushes. The lacquer dries before another layer of powder and lacquer is applied, and so on, until the desired depth of detail and shine is reached. The Namiki factory, a name synonymous with this style of decoration, was founded in Tokyo and resurrected this ancient technique, as a means of decorating their patented lacquered fountain pens...

Japanese Damascene with a 24-karat cigarette case with gold and silver inlay, circa 1920-1930. While most Damascene cases feature inlays of Japanese lan...