 
The House of Fabergé made
literally thousands of different items for
their clients, both
to order and with which
to stock their stores. Royalty, the ladies
of the court, women of great wealth, ballerinas
and courtesans in Moscow and St. Petersburg
often enjoyed afternoons of shopping at the
Fabergé stores. They were filled
with so many beautiful objects which were irresistible
to those who coveted them that it was not unusual
for them to come away from an afternoon of
shopping with several pieces of Fabergé's
creation. Because cigar and cigarette
smoking was so prevalent in those days
what they often sought were cigarette cases. Fabergé made
them by the hundreds, some of them very elaborate
and some very simple, but all simply marvelous.
In the Queen of England's collection
today there is one in deep blue enamel guilloché with
a diamond snake crossing both the front and
back of the case that is so spectacular
it was used on the cover of the book that was
published for the Queen's Collection. Leopold
de Rothschild purchased many cigarette cases
from Fabergé, often using his racing
stable colors on the cases, and gave them as
gifts - a not uncommon practice. And in the
London branch of Fabergé they were
also quite popular. There are a number
of them in the Queen's Collection today.
The Fabergé Collection has
reproduced several of them making a very simple
change - rather than holding cigarettes,
they now display photographs in the interior
of the cases. They close in the same
way with push buttons of gemstone and from
the exterior they look, still, as cigarette
cases might but they are, in fact, exquisite
and useful photograph folders, wonderful
for travel and stunning when displayed on a
desk or nightstand.
Shown above is the hand made Sterling
Silver Cigarette Case in translucent enamel
guilloché in
the strawberry red that Fabergé so often
used. Closed it strongly resembles a
cigarette case but for display purposes it
stands open to reveal a place for two photographs.
Available in three sizes:
3
x 4 rectangle |
Retail: $3000.00.
Our price: $2699.90. |
2
x 3 rectangle |
Retail: $2500.00.
Our price: $2249.90 |
2.5
x 2.5 square |
Retail: $2000.00. Our
price: $1799.90. |
Available
also in Turquoise Blue.
|
