Art Deco Box

This Art Deco box was probably intended for cigarettes, which were smaller than today's filter-tips.  Now it is just a nice little box for any small items, or just to admire in a vitrine as a typical design of the period with the Oriental influencewhich was so popular and fashionable at the time. The box is made of ivory stained to look like tortoise-shell, inlaid with coral and Mother-o'-Pearl, with a very finely made 18ct gold hinge with French hall-marks, the 'straps' and clasp in white gold set with rose-cut diamonds.

The box was made circa 1925 by Strauss, Allard & Meyer, Paris, a manufacturer who made boxes to supply to retailers.  Box-making is a specialised craft, and amongst other companies, this workshop supplied boxes to Cartier.