Egg shell and black lacquer, cigarette case opens to reveal a gilt interior and hinged cigarette retaining clip, silver (French marks), 1920s, maker's marks (Strauss, Allard et Meyer), numbered; bracelet circa 1930, unsigned

Size/Dimensions: case 12.0 x 8.2 cm; bracelet 19.0 x 3.5 cm
Gross Weight: 253.7 grams

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Lot Essay

Both the egg shell cigarette case and the bracelet in this lot display the same technique Jean Dunand (1877-1942) and other pioneering Modernist jewellers in the 1920s and 1930s made famous: using fragments of egg shell to decorative effect within lacquered surfaces.

This technique was already employed in Japan and China, especially for smaller details such as cane handles. As well as Dunand, other jewellers such as Gérard Sandoz (1902-1995) and Raymond Templier (1891-1968) used this technique for decorating cigarette cases and jewellery.

Whilst the cigarette case bears the maker’s marks for Strauss Allard & Meyer, manufacturers of fine jewelled cigarette cases and accessories, the bracelet is unmarked, as was more typical of the time and it will be hard to trace who exactly produced this.