Why are so many marked Birmingham or Chester?

Birmingham carries 74 of the 413 titles and Chester 51, between them 125. London manages 12. The small silver trade worked to the provincial offices, and the vesta case is a provincial product on this evidence rather than a London one.

What is a match safe?

The same object under a different name. The term is used mainly for American examples, which turn up only a handful of times across the archive. British listings stick to 'vesta case'.

How old are most of them?

The dealer dates run from 1860 to 1960, with the decade buckets tight on the 1910s, 1900s and 1920s. Edwardian and Victorian labels together cover more than half. The 1880s, 1890s and 1930s are thin. Anything before about 1860 or after about 1935 is exceptional. Titles are often more precise than the reign label, quoting an exact assay year. Birmingham 1906 alone appears in eight.

Which forms are the unusual ones?

Novelty appears in 13 titles and heart in 11. Beyond those, a boar, an elephant, a cat, a fish, a golf ball, a bean, a piano, a domino, a padlock and a life buoy each turn up. One-offs include a mussel shell, a sarcophagus, a 1797 cartwheel penny mounted as a case and a maze puzzle case under Morton's Patent.

Are enamelled vesta cases common?

Enamel appears in 23 titles, about one in twenty of the archive, and more among current stock. The subjects repeat: pug, bulldog and Jack Russell heads, yacht club burgees, coats of arms, jockey colours and hand-painted roses. Several of the highest-placed listings are enamelled.

Do military associations show up on these?

They run as a small steady seam. Seaforth Highlanders, 9th Lancers, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and the Duke of Wellington's Regiment all appear. Naval examples include a submarine depot case and one for HMS Prince George.