Faberge cigarette cases

[NJS]

Does anyone have photographs of Faberge cigarette cases in patterned, coloured golds, enamel or samorodok finishes, please?
NJS

[shredder]

[marcelo]

Here is a cigarette case with samorodok finish.


Some further images are available at: http://www.leopardantiques.com/object/stock/detail/351

Now, I must confess I did not know what a "samorodok finish" is, till I read this tread. Thus, thanks for the request posed at the outset of the thread! The link above also provides some interesting information on how this corrugated effect is obtained. The text also states that Faberge was a notable maker of cigarette cases with samorodok finish, but the image above shows, acutally, a piece by the maker M&N.

[NJS]

It is also interesting that the great makers did not despise silver and even Faberge worked it. I recognize the green enamelled case in this thread and believe that this is silver gilt and enamel - all of them worth a King's ransom. But, unlike so many things commanding such high prices, worth every copper coin.

[NJS]

Thanks for the great images - any more?
Here is one that I found recently. The case may or may not be for sale. The owner (a famous shop) will sell it only to the right person. Given that the price is likely to be near that of a small motor car, I think that this is incredibly nice. Even today not just anyone can own a Faberge cigarette case and just being rich is not a sufficient qualification.




NJS

[marcelo]

Thanks for the great images - any more?
Here is one that I found recently. The case may or may not be for sale. The owner (a famous shop) will sell it only to the right person. Given that the price is likely to be near that of a small motor car, I think that this is incredibly nice. Even today not just anyone can own a Faberge cigarette case and just being rich is not a sufficient qualification.




NJS

Does it also count as "samorodok finish"? From the text I read yesterday, I had concluded that "samorodok finish" does only apply to silver.
Thanks for the image.

[shredder]

Marcelo, I don't believe samorodok is specific to silver. I recall a gem-set gold folding picture frame by F that is described as samorodok -- I don't recall the source, however... It is very difficult to execute, but to be honest, I cannot warm to it (no pun intended).

NJS, yes, silver has a bad rep amongst some people, and it's not uncommon to hear choice words to refer to the material. I suspect that it is largely based on the relative market value of the metal rather than anything else. Unlike other white metals, silver is extraordinary in the way that it has a warm glow despite being white whilst having a mercurial appearance.

There was (and hopefully still is) a shop in Copenhagen called Royal Copenhagen Antiques, run by a Dr. von Essen, specialising in Georg Jensen estate pieces (GJ is part of the RC group). If, after having stood in the shop or in front of Tiffany's Magnolia Vase at the Metropolitan Museum for more than 3 minutes, one not only fails to shake off the gold's-poor-cousin image but to be moved by the masterpieces, then there can be no further discussion. The upside is that there will be one less reason for upward pressure on prices.

Looking at those cases, it makes me wonder why I gave up cigarettes.

cheers,
s

[NJS]

Marcelo,
Here is one that Sotheby's described, from its sale on 26th November 2008, as two toned gold samorodok:




so I think that it applies to the process of production that involves heating the metal to just below melting point and then plunging it in cold water to achieve the running, nugget effect. I have just also seen a reference to one made of palisander or Brazilian rosewood - Dalbergia nigra one of the most beautiful of woods.

NJS

[NJS]

Marcelo, I don't believe samorodok is specific to silver. I recall a gem-set gold folding picture frame by F that is described as samorodok -- I don't recall the source, however... It is very difficult to execute, but to be honest, I cannot warm to it (no pun intended).

NJS, yes, silver has a bad rep amongst some people, and it's not uncommon to hear choice words to refer to the material. I suspect that it is largely based on the relative market value of the metal rather than anything else. Unlike other white metals, silver is extraordinary in the way that it has a warm glow despite being white whilst having a mercurial appearance.

There was (and hopefully still is) a shop in Copenhagen called Royal Copenhagen Antiques, run by a Dr. von Essen, specialising in Georg Jensen estate pieces (GJ is part of the RC group). If, after having stood in the shop or in front of Tiffany's Magnolia Vase at the Metropolitan Museum for more than 3 minutes, one not only fails to shake off the gold's-poor-cousin image but to be moved by the masterpieces, then there can be no further discussion. The upside is that there will be one less reason for upward pressure on prices.

Looking at those cases, it makes me wonder why I gave up cigarettes.

cheers,

s

Cary Grant continued collecting cigarette cases after he gave up smoking altogether - so do not despair! I expect that any from his collection would attract a premium. I once saw a pair of very ordinary oval gold cufflinks, that he had owned, for sale in a shop in the Strand - £1800 when, apart from the provenance, one might be looking at a fifth (or less) of that.

I completely agree with your views on silver; especially when finely worked. I bought my wife a bangle in Sri Lanka, which is silver gilt but it is about 4 cm wide and completely covered with semi-precious stones and every one is properly, individually claw set in perfectly made individual settings in the framework. On first seeing it, I thought that it would be much beyond my holiday purse but my Good Lady did like it very much - so I slipped off and asked the price. That night (just before we came home), and remembering the Churchill story about him slipping off to the casinio at Monte Carlo and returning to cover his sleeping wife's bed in big Franc notes, I slipped out again and played my very best blackjack all night at the Sunset Casino, just around the corner from the Galle Face Hotel, until they closed me down at dawn. Fortunately, my guardian Angel must have been in attendance, as I ended up just the equivalent of US$ 100 short of the marked price and the jeweller let me have it for my two bricks of Sri Lankan money. On our return, I took it into one of the shops in the Burlington Arcade, for an estimate of value, and the jeweller told me that, just to make this piece in London, would cost 6 X the amount that I paid for it and that these things are (except in the case of large, rare, precious stones), very often more about workmanship than materials. Accordinlgy, the fact that it is silver gilt and not gold is unimportant - except, perhaps, for the fact that gold might just be too heavy for such a piece.

My favourite case so far is the curved blue enamel one. But imagine dropping it! Do you know who has the picture rights please?
NJS

[shredder]

NJS, I'm sorry, I haven't got a clue who has the image rights. I don't even recall where I found it... But, I agree, it is fabulous: the curved shape, the guilloché pattern, etc. What I do recall is that it is silver-gilt. And, don't even mention dropping it!!!
cheers,
s

[le.gentleman]

I was just looking through exhibition catalog of Fabergé / Cartier Rivalen am Zarenhof which could be admired from 2003-2004 in Munich, Germany. There I found a Samorodok cigarette case in gold as well as numerous enameld cigarette cases.
Moreover, I got to know that John Traina is a collector of those cigarette cases. In 1998, he published a book about Fabergé cases ( The Fabergé Case) which might be of interest to you, NJS. His homepage can be found at: http://www.johntraina.com/

Here are some sample pictures: http://johntraina.com/fabergecase.html
The book is even available at amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Faberge-Case-Priv ... 832&sr=8-1

Other than that, Archduke Dr. Géza von Habsburg might help you out with pictures - http://www.gvhabsburg.com/

[NJS]

Thank you all for all this great information and material - and please don't stop. That curved, blue case is something to be tracked down and seen. The workmanship in these objects is magnificent. Having known a very little about them - just enough to begin the thread, I am now completely hooked. I see also that George VI collected these cases. I have been looking at auction prices and they seem to vary by big margins but I am sure that condition has a great bearing on prices - especially in the case of the enamelled cases, as enamel is brittle and difficult to repair convincingly. I do wonder how many of these cases are in actual use as (without re-igniting the smoking debate!) it seems a pity that so many are just exhibition pieces.
NJS

[shredder]

NJS, I may have been a little slow on the uptake, but if this is about a search for an image that you could use in your next book, then it may be worth enquiring with WARTSKI or A LA VIELLE RUSSIE about images they hold. I should think that they would be happy to let you use a suitable image so long as they get the credit (and therefore free publicity for themselves, not that they need it). As suggested already, GvH is a sensible lead as well.

What I find irritating is that many dealers are listing these cigarette cases as just cases probably in the hopes that the incomplete description will broaden the target market to include non-smokers. I don't wish to sound like the dealer you mentioned earlier but people who acquire these things not realising that they are cigarette cases probably are not the right sort of people to acquire them.

By the way, not all is lost because I have not given up smoking entirely; I still enjoy cigars. This still gives me a reason to keep an eye open for Dunhill Uniques.

cheers,
s

[NJS]

NJS, I may have been a little slow on the uptake, but if this is about a search for an image that you could use in your next book, then it may be worth enquiring with WARTSKI or A LA VIELLE RUSSIE about images they hold. I should think that they would be happy to let you use a suitable image so long as they get the credit (and therefore free publicity for themselves, not that they need it). As suggested already, GvH is a sensible lead as well.

What I find irritating is that many dealers are listing these cigarette cases as just cases probably in the hopes that the incomplete description will broaden the target market to include non-smokers. I don't wish to sound like the dealer you mentioned earlier but people who acquire these things not realising that they are cigarette cases probably are not the right sort of people to acquire them.

By the way, not all is lost because I have not given up smoking entirely; I still enjoy cigars. This still gives me a reason to keep an eye open for Dunhill Uniques.

cheers,
s

Thanks again for all this. I do have permission to use one image but it is not my favourite and so I shall contact the people mentioned by you and le gentleman. It is a pity that these objects are just being marketed as 'cases' and 'boxes' instead of cigarette cases - but some people are just too precious about smoking. There are a couple of brands of decent cigarettes left - Tor and Tekel's Samsun and Camel are still doing Turkish - Virginia blends. They are all pale shadows of Sullivans and B&H Cairo cigarettes (I still have four left!!) but still...
NJS

[marcelo]

Shredder and NJS, thanks a lot for the reference to the samorodok effect on materials other than silver. I am looking forward to the book to be published on all these interesting topics.
Marcelo