If These Shirts Could Talk: The Tantalizing Tales Behind Used Clothes
Jockeying for Position: How Boxers and Briefs Got Into Men's Pants
Gloriously Grotesque 19th-Century Pipes
In the Hot Seat: Is Your Antique Windsor a Fake?
Love at First Kite: How Pizza and Pente Led to One Oklahoman's High-Flying Obsession
Blood, Sweat, and Steel: My Afternoon with the Ace of Swords
'The Great Gatsby' Still Gets Flappers Wrong
Say Ahhh: An Oral Surgeon's Quest to Reimagine the Garage-Band Guitar
Forget TV Pickers, Meet the Real Mavericks of the Antiques World
Coveting The Craziest Cat-People Collectibles
Posted 1 year ago
Hunter
(30 items)
This is an old monogrammed cigarette case I found at a Buffalo Exchange in Texas. Go figure.
From what I've found online, the silver marks indicate it was made by the H.J. Cooper and Co. Ltd., in Birmingham, England (anchor), it is .925 Silver (lion), and it was made in 1907 (h).
I love that it still has one original yellow elastic band to hold the cigarettes - does anyone know why there was a place for elastic on the opposite side as well (the narrow convex side)? Was it to hold matches?
And can anyone make out what letters the actual monogram say (TM?) - I'm having trouble with it. Any info about the eagle design on the back is appreciated too!
Cigarette CasesThe functional reason for a cigarette case is to keep the fragile tubes of …
English Sterling SilverNo one knows for sure, but some historians speculate that the word “sterlin…
a) More cigarettes, I think!
b) JMC ? Celtic twists?
c) The family armorial.
Nice case!
thanks vetraio50!
thanks all for the love!
Don't you just love the monogram!
Somewhere I have a collection of Silversmiths practice or possibly sample monograms from Birmingham Old Jewellery Quarter...I'll have to dig them out and post them :)
thanks Hems - would love to see the sample monograms!
Hi Hunter
I have posted them and a bit of their story:
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/67790-victorian-silver-engravers-work-samples?in=user
The Eagle is a "crest" of a very well-to-do Family, perhaps not "Titled" but VERY old and respected. Presumably an English Midlands Family (based on the item being assayed in Birmingham). A specialist in the old families of England would be able to give the name and "seat" (traditional family home/estate) of the family.
Great to know about the eagle - I will have to do a bit more research to see who might be able to identify it....thanks again Hems!