ASK THE EXPERT (APRIL 08)

I keep all of my cigars in this box which I know is marked ‘Dunhill’ inside. Could you give me any more information and the value. I seem to remember it was quite expensive when my wife bought it for me about thirty years ago.

A box such as this is called a ‘humidor’. A humidor is a specially constructed box to contain cigars and keep them fresh. ie it is free of moisture and a constant temperature is kept inside by the use of gauges and lining material. Alfred Dunhill has been established for over one hundred years and is associated with quintessential English quality and expensive accessories. Products were and still are of the highest quality and smoking accessories such as lighters are particularly associated with the brand. Your humidor is veneered in coromandel, is air tight and has the relevant gauges inside which are marked with the company name. Although smoking itself is not encouraged today, objects such as this are still highly sought after. Other uses can be found for such a box. Although not an antique yet, I suspect you humidor would fetch well over £300 at auction today. Larger versions also appear on the market form time to time in differing veneers but all of the highest quality.

I bought this small box at a local auction about twenty five years ago just because I liked it and no one else seemed to be bidding. I paid about £20 at the time. Can you tell me anything about it? It looks like tortoiseshell but someone told me it could be plastic!

You have had a good buy. Your casket does not have any real particular purpose other than storing trinkets. It was made at some point during the nineteenth century and is a wooden carcass veneered in tortoiseshell. During the early part of the twentieth century, a synthetic called celluloid was used to imitate tortoiseshell and it can be difficult to differentiate. Celluloid in it own right is collectable.
Any antique tortoiseshell attracts a premium and was and is still regarded a luxury object in antique form. Your fine box would fetch £150-200 at auction. Tea caddies made of tortoiseshell can fetch thousands of pounds.