Cigarette case Nugget made of silver decorated with an amethyst button Khlebnikov Moscow 1908 1917.
A lot has changed in the last hundred years. People of the beginning of the 20th century did not know television, cell phones, or even radio broadcasting. And it was also a time when smoking was considered just a habit, and its harm to health was not proven.
Silver cigarette case decorated with gilding and cloisonne enamel Khlebnikov Moscow 1880.Silver cigarette case decorated with gilding and cloisonne enamel Khlebnikov Moscow circa 1880.
The fashion for smoking is reflected in the widespread use of cigarette cases and other smoking accessories. Large jewelry firms, artels, silverware workshops and factories were engaged in making them for different tastes, more than five hundred of which are known in Moscow today with only well-known names of owners and craftsmen. Cigarette cases were decorated in a variety of styles and techniques – stamped images and ornaments, applied decorations in the form of badges, key chains, all kinds of enamels, chasing, casting, niello engravings, colored gold and gilding, precious stones. An interesting way to decorate was the surface, which was called “nugget”, when a product made of gold or silver was heated almost to the melting point, and then subjected to rapid cooling. Such decor was used almost exclusively in the manufacture of cigarette cases.
Cigarette case decorated with gilding and cloisonne enamel Khlebnikov Moscow 1882.Silver cigarette case decorated with an engraved design depicting a Russian troika Khlebnikov Moscow circa 1908 1917.Silver cigarette case decorated with cloisonne enamel Khlebnikov Moscow circa 1894.Cigarette case decorated with gilding and cloisonne enamel, Khlebnikov cigarette cases, 1910.Silver cigarette case decorated with gilding and enamel Khlebnikov Moscow circa 1910.Silver cigarette case decorated with gilding and cloisonne enamel Khlebnikov Moscow 1890.Cigarette case decorated with gilding and cloisonne enamel Khlebnikov 1890.Silver cigarette case decorated with gilding and cloisonne enamel Khlebnikov Moscow 1883.Silver cigarette case decorated with gilding champleve enamel and engraving Khlebnikov Moscow 1883.Cigarette case depicting a lion on a rocky shore decorated with enamel internal gilding and a cabochon button Khlebnikov Moscow 1896 1908.Silver cigarette case decorated with niello Khlebnikov Moscow 1872.Silver cigarette case depicting the Moscow Kremlin decorated with niello Khlebnikov Moscow 1883. Khlebnikov cigarette cases.
