Here's something you don't find every day, an Egyptian cigarette tin from the early half of the 1900's. It's a little beat up but that doesn't stop it from taking your breath away while gazing upon all sides of the astoundingly beautiful Nouveau box design. Heck, if I saw this in a store back in the day, I probably would've taken up smoking on the spot! The tin originally held 100 cigarettes, and though the company itself was originally founded by Greek immigrants, Dimitrios Dimitriou and Ioannis Emmanuelidis in Cairo, Egypt in 1886, I believe this particular tin is actually from 1920's England, even though many online sources (and even the tin itself) claim it's from 1910.
That is beautiful even with the scuff marks.
ReplyDeleteThe front image of the Egyptian lady reminds me of the early movie posters during the silent era, an image to entice the moviegoer to spend a nickel or dime on the matinee. The back image invokes the idea of the product produced in a foreign land, adding to its exotic appeal.
Concerning the 1910 date, it is possible the image was first used in 1910 but stayed in use for years or decaades later. Perhaps back then they decided to stay with the image they had rather than try a lew look and lose customers.
Most never stop to think of the everyday art that surrounds us, the ads in the paper or the labels on products, and how more eye catching the image the more favored the product is to the buyer.
Thanks once again for sharing this overlooked art from a century ago.
She's reminiscent of Theda Bara.
DeleteSuch a cool tin. What are you going to keep in there? Looks like it would be perfect for Post-it note art.
ReplyDeleteThe front is oddly busy to the point where some of the lettering is squished to make it fit in (Cigarettes d'Orient for example.) I wonder if it was sourced from somewhere else and this is a paste job? Regardless, it's a beautiful image and the sly smile from the lady is one of those hard to capture things in art.
ReplyDeleteLooks like it's the right size to keep one mint Mego figure!