Unusual French Silver & Niello Cigarette & Vesta Case Concealed Tinder Cord

A lovely late 19th century fine quality French silver and niello cigarette case. The lid hinges open to the side to reveal the gilded cigarette compartment and the concealed tube which would have held a wick/tindercord to provide your light. To the side of the case is a wheel to wind the wick up and down to extinguish the flame. In the base of the case, a further hinged compartment stores the remainder of the wick and a vesta section with space for matches separated by a hinged striker plate.

The case is a lovely shape with curved edges and very pretty finely detailed decoration and has a gilded vacant cartouche on one side. It has French hallmarks on the flange inside the main lid dating for c.1880.

It measures 10cm by 6cm wide and 1.8cm deep and weighs 109g/3.5ozt. Condition is very good but with some small dents to either end with some associated small losses to the niello. A further tiny loss on one side and some appropriate surface wear. There is some expected discolouration to the striker plate and interior of the vesta compartment. The hinges are all fine and close well and the winder wheel is fine also.

Payment is accepted by bank transfer, card payments (via an online invoice, I'm afraid we cannot take payments over the telephone), Paypal and UK personal cheque. If you prefer to pay card payments by Stripe rather than Paypal, please go to our website where we offer that option and additionally options to "Pay in 30 days" and to pay in 3 instalments, all securely supported by Klarna.

Price includes UK postage. We ship worldwide for a small cost, please ask for details. For US customers, current tariff charges of 10% must be paid in advance of posting. Please contact us to go through the details.

We wish to ensure all our customers are happy with their purchases and offer a full no quibble return policy for all items returned within 14 days. We ask that returns are notified within 7 days where possible. Return postage is the buyer's responsibility in terms of cost and safeguarding the item in transit.

In the unlikely event any damage has occurred during shipping please advise as soon as possible and within 2 days of receipt at the latest. If you cannot inspect the item within those 2 days please just let us know.

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