Silver And Enamel Cigarette Case, Vienna XIX - XX Century

Viennese cigarette case in gilded silver with a very fine polychrome enamel on a shiny black background, featuring a seated Pierrot dressed in a delicate violet with gold solar motifs and a white strawberry collar.
Around the figure, a network of fine fillets and geometric discs, cubic elements and linear signs - creates a singular compose a singular, almost abstract decorative space, establishing a dialogue between theatrical figuration and a resolutely modern ornamental language. The reverse, deliberately sober, is left in black enamel, while the interior, gilded, retains a reflective surface.
The opening mechanism, still asymmetrical knurled pushers in the shape of a half-moon.
The hallmarks on the inside clearly point to an Austro-Hungarian production between 1866 and 1922 (head of Diana). The goldsmith as "AHS", with interlaced initials typical of the Viennese or Hungarian area, has not yet been identified. However, this is undoubtedly a skilled silversmith active in Vienna, operating in the particularly dynamic context of the production of high-quality utility objects.
From a stylistic point of view, the object fits into an extremely interesting context : the figure of Pierrot, a favorite subject of fin de siècle theatrical culture, meets here an ornamental vocabulary that seems to herald Art Deco taste, with simplified, dynamic graphic elements. This combination fits perfectly with the artistic climate between the Secession and the applied arts, in which workshops and factories elevated everyday objects to the status of aesthetic experimentation.
In the present state of research, it is not possible to attribute the piece to a specific workshop or designer (such as those gravitating around the Wiener Werkstätte or near by environments), but the quality of the enamel and the consistency of the design able to combine function, elegance and a subtle poetic dimension.

Dimensions: 8 x 6 x 1 cm (thickness)
Total weight : 32 gr.