Edwardian Silver Vesta Case, Jesus College Cambridge University

Edwardian Silver Vesta Case, Jesus College Cambridge University.

A good Victorian silver and enamel Vesta Case of rounded rectangular form with sprung hinged lid and attached suspension ring, the face enameled with the Coat of Arms of Jesus College, Cambridge University.

By Robert Chandler, Birmingham 1908.

Vesta cases, which also go by the name of vesta boxes, matchsafes and pocket matchsafes, were used to stores vestas (short matches) and to keep them dry so that they were able to light when struck. They were first made in the 1830s, with their heyday being between 1890 and 1920, when everyone kept a vesta box to hand, though while the poor had boxes made from tin, the vesta boxes of the wealthy were made from gold and silver.

Most vesta boxes had a ribbed surface on the bottom so that the owner could also strike the matches kept inside, while some also include cigar cutters and small knife blades. Steppes Hill Farm Antiques stocks a variety of antique silver vesta cases from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, specialising in enamel, novelty and engraved designs

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This object is eligible for a Certificate of BADA Provenance

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