Description

Edwardian silver desk match-box, hall-marked in Chester 1909, probably by Sampson Mordan & Co, who specialised in propelling pencils, pens and desk accessories, more usually hall-marked in London or Birmingham. It has a very unusual striker in the form of a series of brass disks, stamped below ‘turbine’ and ‘patent’. The inside of the box is lined in cedar wood, with the inside of the cover frosted and gilded. Of course, this striker will only work with non-safety matches, such as Swan Vestas, stocked by every tobacconist. I’ve tried it, and they work. The cover is applied with a circular enamel plaque of an attractively semi-undressed young lady, wearing little other than a translucent slip and black stockings, and smoking the first, or last, cigarette of the day. The box measures 3 5/8 x 3 inches overall: 93 x 77 mm.