Cigarette Cases

The display cases in Fabergé’s workshop at 24 Morskya Street overflowed with an incredible variety of items. The most popular item crafted by these masters was the cigarette case. Long before we realized the adverse health effects of smoking, there was hardly a person who did not partake of this “fashionable” habit. Russians in particular were known to heavily indulge. Fabergé created dozens of different styles of cigarette cases made of as many different materials including gold, copper, silver, enamel, wood, gemstones, nephrite and other hard stones. As varied as the materials, so were the styles of case. They modeled Art Nouveau, Louis XV (rococo), neoclassical, and Style Moderne.

Cigarette cases were a particularly popular item for the Russian royal family to give as gifts. Sometimes as many as four thousand cigarette cases were on hand at the Russian Court ready to bestow on its lucky recipient. The Tsar was known to travel with a trunk full of Fabergé items – cigarette cases always appearing in the greatest numbers. One reason might be because they were also functional. And what better way to offer someone a cigarette than by opening a Fabergé case. H.C. Bainbridge, Fabergé’s London branch manager for many years, said of the cigarette cases:

“They serve a useful purpose, and as constant companions endear themselves to the possessor, they are pleasing to look at and pleasant to feel, and above all have in them that quality I have called “substance” which creates that sense of well-being which I believe to be the main reason for the attraction of all Fabergé objects.”